Ending the End Class
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: It's been 30 years since the moon changed form forever, and the threat of being in the dreaded Class 3E at Kunugigaoka is one that has been gradually fading and losing power. Yet to the students who experience it, nothing has changed. But maybe, just maybe, this is the year that the system will finally shatter. AU(all SYOCs CLOSED)
1. Prologue

**LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE ALERT!**

 **Okay, so as you might have twigged from plot summary, this is an SYOC, and the characters submitted will form the majority of the Class 3E in the year this story is set, which is three decades after Assassination Classroom. Although this prologue is from Karasuma's viewpoint, the rest of the story will be from my own OC's POV.**

 **As I have another multi-chapter story that needs finishing, this won't be regularly updated for a while, but I am gathering the OCs now because it'll make it easier for me when I do start updating regularly. WHICH WILL HAPPEN, I promise. Also, I am spreading out character introductions so that they are not all clumped into one or two chapters, although the majority will be introduced when the focus shifts to inside Class 3E. In all cases, there will be an author's note at the end stating which characters are submitted characters and who they belong to, so as to avoid confusion.**

 **But of course, I need to have OCs first. To strike a balance between a diverse class and making sure I don't have too many class members to juggle, I will be looking for 22 characters with similar amounts of both genders , although I am not fussed if I get slightly more boys than girls or vice-versa. The OC form will be at the end of the prologue, with a few rules about who you can submit. I will also put the form (but not the rules) on my profile page. There is no limit on how many OCs you can submit, though.**

 **EDIT 18/05/15: Like an idiot, I forgot to tell you HOW to submit. So if you have already left me a review asking, then it's probably best if you PM me an OC since I am fairly sure you cannot leave reviews twice on the same chapter. Otherwise, you can submit by either review or PM depending upon what is convenient for you. Apologies for not clarifying this yesterday!**

 **So, I hope that you'll enjoy this prologue in the meantime- I can't wait to see the characters that get submitted ^^**

Tadaomi Karasuma was no stranger to funerals, but this one hit particularly hard. Perhaps because the one who had passed was, in the grand scheme of things, relatively young. Perhaps because she was leaving behind children who still needed her, even if they still had their father, their other relatives, and himself. Or even because he had been watching her decline over the past year, helpless. But, most likely it was because once, a long time ago, she was a middle school student called Hinano Kurahashi, and he had been her teacher.  
Now she was known as Hinano Kitakawa, married to Mamoru Kitakawa, with whom she'd had two children-Tadaomi and Chihiro( known simply as Tada and Hiro) , both in their second year of middle school. His godchildren. It had been a honour when Hinano had sought him out just before the twins were born and asked him to taken that role, and he was even more honoured to have one of the children named for him. The times that had followed were happy ones, ones that had kept him busy, even as a retired person. Until Hinano had fallen ill. Then everything had changed, again.

As he stood in the corner of the hall in which the wake was being held, Karasuma thought about those times. He scanned the groups of people, looking for Tada and Hiro. More than ever, he would have to be there for them, and he fully intended to do so, starting from now. He knew them well enough to know that the twins would be fairly overwhelmed by all of this, and it would be the kind thing to go to them and find them.

 _Or maybe not._

Karasuma spotted them with one of their aunts, who seemed determined to engage them in conversation with their young cousins. Except that it wasn't really working, because Tada looked like he was getting ready to punch one of the cousins, while Hiro's face had the same blank expression on it that suggested she'd turned off her hearing aids. Neither of these were a good sign, so with a sigh of annoyance, he started to walk towards them, hoping to defuse any situation that might occur.

"I've got it, Karasuma-sensei." Rio Nakamura breezed past him, somehow managing to look nonchalant even in her dark funeral clothes. The strain of losing a friend was clearly there for all to see, but she still managed to flash a devilish grin at Karasuma, a flashback to who she had been almost thirty years ago.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked. He had a feeling that Rio, being one of Hinano's closest friends, was likely to clash with the twins' aunt, and a scene was the last thing anyone wanted. Rio stopped and rolled her eyes, taking the opportunity to tuck a stray lock of blond hair back behind her ears.

"Pfft, I can deal with Chiyo and her brats. And I don't think even she'd be so low as to make trouble, no matter her opinions on Hinano. But I'll direct them to ya later, Sensei, 'kay?"

Karasuma nodded, and Rio went off. To his satisfaction, once Tada and Hiro were with her, they seemed to relax visibly. After watching his godchildren for a moment, he decided to go to the food table.

"Karasuma."

Mamoru stopped him in his tracks, looking tired and haggard. Although Mamoru often wore suits to work, the one he was wearing now looked more like a death sentence than mere clothes. Karasuma didn't blame him for that, though. If he had been in Mamoru's position he supposed the same would have happened to him.

"Mamoru. Are you holding up?" a stupid question, but one that needed to be asked. Although understandably Mamoru had been suspicious when Hinano had introduced them, the two men had cultivated a friendship, of sorts, bound together by the children, but also by respect. In a different way, Karasuma would look out for Mamoru also.

"Mhmm. You're coming back after, aren't you? The kids need you."

"I'm aware." Karasuma said, letting just a hint of scolding creep into his voice. Mamoru nodded, chastened.

"I know, just….sorry."

"Don't apologise. I promised them that, anyway. That, and I hear your fridge is still a little full." He added, trying for humour. It worked, because Mamoru chuckled drily.

"Yes, yes it is. "

 **…**

"Karasuma-sensei? Can we spar in the garden while Dad's dealing with the food?" Tada asked as they entered the house. Karasuma paused from where he was taking off his shoes and looked at Mamoru, who shrugged.

"Okay then." He'd had a feeling that one of the twins would ask for that. He had been teaching them just a little of what he knew since they had been nine years old. They would never have any need for assassination skills, but they would be useful for self-defence. And Tada and Hiro enjoyed their lessons immensely, which is what _really_ mattered.

"Cool. " Hiro smiled slightly. "I'll go get the knives." She ran upstairs while Tada and Karasuma went out into the garden. She was back in a few moments, carrying the green rubber knives that had long been stripped clean of any logos, but were still identifiable to Karasuma as the same knives that his class had wielded, all those years ago.

"So", he asked when the twins were standing in front of him, holding the rubber knives. "Who wants to go first?"

"I will." Hiro said, her voice sounding thicker than usual. She rubbed her eyes slightly, and then smiled at Karasuma. "Don't go easy on me." She added.

His response was to hand her the rubber knife and get into his starting stance. Hiro flew at him, fierce and nimble, yet almost completely silent. Although he was careful to not damage her hearing aids or hit too hard, he did what she asked, and didn't go easy on her. So, in the end, although her youth and agility gave her the upper hand, he was the one to win. Then, she sat down on the grass to watch her brother as he had his turn.

Tada was altogether more aggressive in his attacks, and a lot more vocal than his sister, and was soon running Karasuma ragged. Soon, he looked to be winning, but Karasuma felt something was off. Tada was just as skilled and speedy as Hiro, but he was usually more controlled. And as the sparring stretched out, his feeling was confirmed.

"Tada! You need to stop now." Karasuma ordered, holding up a fist to fend off the next attack. Tada ignored him and lunged. Karasuma grappled with him for a moment, and then after a futile few moments, restrained him. Tada seemed to rage for a while, and then loosened.

A few moments later, Karasuma realised that Tada was sobbing. Letting him go, he could only watch as Tada sat down heavily on the grass and buried his face in his hands.

"Tada!" Hiro got up and rushed over to her brother, sitting down next to him and rubbing his curly mop of black hair while murmuring things Karasuma couldn't make out. Awkwardly, Karasuma went to kneel down in front of Tada and put a hand on his shoulder, saying nothing. It reminded him of Hinano and the other members of that class. Class 3E. It had been almost three decades since that fateful year, and he still felt the impact of all that had happened.

 _Maybe I should tell them about it, about what their mother was involved in._ He thought. Perhaps it would do the twins some good. He knew for a fact he still had the knife-case that Hinano had decorated with Rio, and thought that if he was able to tell the story behind it, both Hiro and Tada would treasure it. But he knew that he probably wouldn't be allowed, and being retired he didn't really want to be going back to his old bosses, so he put the thought aside, and focussed on his godson.

Tada was starting to calm down, the sobs fading into sniffles. Eventually, he removed his hands from his face and looked up, blinking tiredly. Hiro handed him a tissue silently, and Tada took it, thanking her in sign language. He wiped his face and then looked at Karasuma.

"Sorry." He said, starting to look sheepish. "I think I got carried away."

"Under the circumstances, it's understandable. " Karasuma replied, simply, patting him on the shoulder. Getting up, he held out a hand for Tada to do the same. He took it, and Hiro got up by herself.

"That was a good session, both of you. Your mother would be proud."

"Thank you, Karasuma-sensei." Tada said, smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. Hiro smiled too, and nodded. Then, the sound of Mamoru calling them in drifted across the garden, and the three of them went to eat.

 **…**

Time went by, and life gradually went back to normal for the Kitakawas, and as usual, Karasuma continued to see them. During their sparring sessions, Tada's anger eventually levelled off, and his attacks went back to normal, which was heartening. He also spent time with them doing the things they usually did together as godparent and godchildren- homework, family dinners, sparring, and the occasional visit to the cinemas. He also had many deep discussions with Mamoru, who seemed to appreciate the company of his late wife's old teacher. Mamoru had loved Hinano deeply, and having her stolen away by cancer had left him bereft.

So, when he was out shopping for groceries one Tuesday afternoon and saw that Mamoru was driving around aimlessly, he didn't hesitate in calling out to him. Mamoru parked the car in front of the shop Karasuma had just left, and rolled down the window.

"Karasuma. Do you want a lift?"

Karasuma considered it, and shrugged.

"If it isn't any trouble. I'm in no rush though. "

Mamoru just laughed, thinly. "It's fine, really. I'm not in any rush either."

Karasuma got in the car, and Mamoru began to drive just as aimlessly as he had been doing. The silence was comfortable for a while, as they'd known each other a long time, but soon it became stifling, and Karasuma's instincts pricked up. But he stayed silent, simply watching Mamoru's demeanour as they drove. Then, finally, when there were alarm bells ringing in his head, Karasuma spoke up.

"Mamoru, shouldn't you be in work right now? You went back three weeks ago?" Mamoru simply gave him a sideways look. Then, he shrugged.

"I think that maybe I should let you out." Mamoru's voice seemed oddly detached, and cold. It made the alarm bells ring louder. Suddenly, the car felt like a dangerous place.

 _Maybe I'm wrong. I hope that I am wrong._

"Is there something wrong?" Karasuma asked, carefully. Mamoru continued driving, even despite what he had just said. Karasuma studied the set of his face, and suddenly realised what Mamoru was thinking.

 _He can't! Not now! What will that do to Tada and Hiro?_

In one swift moment, Karasuma reached over to take control of the steering wheel. At the same time, Mamoru sped up the car, and there was a desperate struggle, Karasuma trying to steer the car and Mamoru trying to stop him. The car veered dangerously through the roads, causing other drivers to panic and traffic to pile up. Karasuma ignored it though, because he was too busy trying to save Mamoru, trying to prevent tragedy. He was tired of seeing children grieve.

And then the car spun around and hit a lamppost, and everything went black.

 **Yep, it's a cliffhanger. , time for the rules.**

 **1-The characters should be Japanese, with Japanese names. That being said, I don't mind if they are mixed race or if they spent some years in another country, but the Japanese names thing still applies.**

 **2-I DON'T want any of the characters to be the children or other relatives of the characters in the original anime/manga. Partially because I have Tada and Hiro to fulfil that role, and also because some of he original anime/manga characters will have their own appearances or mentions throughout the story.**

 **3- If you submit a character, I am assuming you are okay with them being shipped with other characters. Depending on who I get, this might not even happen, but just in case, do keep this in mind.**

 **4- This isn't necessarily first come first served. If I like your character, or I can find a good role for them, they'll be accepted.**

 **5-They are middle schoolers, so their age should reflect this, and there is a note in the form to remind you.**

 **And that's all, haha. If you submit a character, I hope you have fun doing so. Here's the form:**

 **First Name:  
Nickname/Name they prefer to go by(optional):  
Last Name:  
Gender:  
Age(are they 14 or 15?):  
Physical Appearance:  
How they wear their school uniform:  
Casual clothes(general description, specifics not needed):  
History:  
Reason for being in Class E(if this is explicitly linked to their history you don't need to repeat yourself):  
Best Subject:  
Other Strengths:  
Worst Subject:  
Other Weaknesses:  
Personality:  
Honorifics they use when addressing others:  
Other details I may need to know: **


	2. The Second Time

**And...here's the first chapter. There are no OCs introduced in this chapter, but the SYOC is still very much open, with 11 slots that still need filling. So again, feel free to send me as many characters as you want, even if you've already had characters accepted in. The form and the rules are in the same place they were when I posted the prologue. Can't wait to see more characters!**

 **Oh, and for those who have had characters accepted -in some cases, I've had to tweak their history slightly because of how the characters are still in their second year in the beginning parts of the story. Overall, background remains the same, and other details about them haven't changed, but I just thought this should be made clear. Apologies for not pointing this out earlier, but I didn't anticipate this initially.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Tada was in a maths lesson when his world toppled over for the second time in just over a month. The class had been set some problems based off the textbook they had been learning from, and Tanaka-sensei was dozing at the desk while most of the students worked at the problems either alone or with help from friends. A few students were asleep, like their teacher.

Tada was one of the ones working, helping his friends Tatsuya and Jin while his sister worked alone a few desks away, turning around occasionally to chat to one of her friends. The questions weren't all that hard though, so there was some chatting going on. All low-level, but enough to keep the class atmosphere cheerful in the face of maths.

And then the class fell silent suddenly, because Principal Morimoto had appeared at the door, frowning. As if sensing the stern presence, Tanaka-sensei blinked and opened his eyes.

"Principal. Do you need my assistance?" Tanaka-sensei seemed to read something in the principal's eyes, because he then asked another question. "Or perhaps you need a student? "

The principal nodded seriously, taking in the class.

"Tadaomi Kitakawa-kun and Chihiro Kitakawa-san. The two of you need to go to the main office immediately."

 _EH?_ Neither Tada or Hiro were of the delinquent variety, so he couldn't imagine why the principal would want them. Nor could he think of why they'd need to go to the main office if that was the case.

"Is…are we in trouble, Principal Morimoto?" Hiro's honey voice floated across the room. Principal Morimoto shook his head. There was something in the way he looked at the two of them, but Tada couldn't figure it out.

"Not at all. But the two of you need to come, and bring your things with you. Your aunt is waiting for you."

 _Our aunt? I hope it isn't Aunt Chiyo._ Tada mentally grimaced at the thought. He would much prefer it was their other aunt- Chika-who was waiting for them. Of their father's two sisters, Chika was by far the best.

Tada and Hiro exchanged a look across the classroom. She seemed just as confused as he was. Then Tada nodded, and they both got up and packed away their work.

"I hope it's nothing serious, mate. Morimoto-sensei looked even more stiff than normal!" Jin whispered conspiratorially. Tada shrugged.

"I'll tell you when I can. Message me with any homework, yeah?"

"Sure." Tatsuya clapped him on the shoulder, looking slightly concerned. That look of concern made Tada's stomach sink. The last time anybody had looked at him like that was in the days leading up to and following his mother's death. He had thought the worst was over now.

 _It can't be anything that bad. It just can't be._

When Hiro had finished packing her things and whispering hurried reassurances to her friends, the two of them set off behind Principal Morimoto, neither of them saying anything but both of them hoping that nothing really bad was going on. Tada wanted to break the silence, to ask Principal Morimoto what was going on, but he didn't dare, for fear that his worst fears would be realised.

But even his silence didn't help, because when they got to the main office, they were greeted with the sight of their father's eldest sister- Chika-who burst into tears the moment she caught sight of them.

 **…**

 _Dad is dead. Dead. Intentionally so. And he tried to take Karasuma-sensei with him, but not us. Dad killed himself, because he missed Mum. Karasuma-sensei wasn't able to stop it. Dad committed suicide._

The statements floated around his head in circles as he sat at the bedside of his godfather, looking down at his hands. To see the tall and formidable yet considerate Karasuma swathed in bandages, lying in a hospital bed and unable to breathe by himself was a sight he didn't want to see. And even more than that, he wasn't sure he wanted to know why everything had led up to this. So he forced the questions from his mind, and went through what he had been told by Chika and the principal back in the school office. Things that boiled down to just a few sentences, circling and circling.

Outside the room, he could hear Chika and Chiyo debating. About what would happen to him and Hiro, no doubt. He knew that ordinarily, if both his parents were gone, Karasuma would have been the one to take them in, because he was their godfather, and he didn't live too far. But that wasn't a possibility anymore. He just hoped he wouldn't have to live with Chiyo. Her three young children-his cousins- were spoilt and rude _brats_ who picked on Hiro all the time because she was deaf, and Chiyo turned a blind eye to all of it. That, and for some reason, she seemed to have something against their mother. As if she hadn't been good enough for their father. Which was ridiculous, because if they hadn't loved each other his father wouldn't have committed suicide over her. Yet even now, Chiyo had practically said that it was their mother's fault that their father had died. _It isn't, Mum. I know you wouldn't have wanted that. Me and Hiro both ._

Tada looked at his sister sitting on the other side of the bed, wondering what she made of the snatches of conversation they were hearing. But he quickly realised that was a pointless question, because of the blank quality of her face as she stared at Karasuma, silently saying something that he couldn't make out. Her dark brown hair swung to obscure her view occasionally, and she brushed it back. During one of these brushing-backs, she detected Tada's gaze, and looked at him searchingly. Then, she made a discreet motion that looked like she was fiddling with her hair. Once she had finished, she spoke.

"I think I'm more scared than I was when we went to visit Mama in the hospital for the first time." She confessed, eyes wide and mirroring his own .

"Hmmm….we're now in the unique position to be able to judge what's worse- sudden loss or one you know that's coming. Except it's too soon to know, isn't it?" it was a variation on a lame in-joke, but it got a smile out of her. At that moment, Chika entered the room, with Chiyo not behind.

"You'll be going to live with Onee-San." Chiyo declared before Tada or Hiro could ask what was going to happen. "We simply don't have the space, and Tadaomi, I cannot deal with you picking fights with my Kazuichi." Tada merely rolled his eyes, and so did Chika as she decided to quickly take over the explaining.

"Now, I understand you both have keys to your house, so if you collect what you need- let's just say, however much you can carry- and then we'll figure out what happens at my house. Okay?" Chika smiled, encouragingly, even though she was clearly as traumatised as they were.

"Is…is there anything we can do to help you, Aunt Chika?" Hiro asked, timidly. Chika shook her head.

"Not for now, Chi-Chan." She said kindly. "Chi-Chan, we're fine here." The last sentence was fired as Chiyo, but it took Tada a moment to realise that, and when he did, he facepalmed. If nothing else made him sceptical of the Kitakawa family's naming traditions, this did. He seriously needed to remind Chika that nobody called Hiro 'Chi-Chan'. _And soon._

With a sound of mild annoyance, Chiyo left. Chika gave them time to say their goodbyes to the comatose Karasuma, and then they left too. Chika drove them to their house first, and they went to get things-clothes, rubber knives, their laptops, school books and novels. Hiro's dance costumes and sewing materials, and Tada's sketchbooks and art materials. And of course, many mementos of their parents. Then, it was the long drive to Chika's house.

She tried to keep the atmosphere in the car from getting too stuffy by chatting lightly about her house and what they could expect from it. Tada was the one who responded though,as Hiro seemed dedicated to staring through the window intensely, with an unreadable expression on her face. He thought that maybe she had switched her hearing aids off again without him realising until she spoke up for the first time since the journey.

"Aunt Chika, what's happening with school?" she asked, not tearing her gaze away from whatever she was gazing at.

"School?" Tada had completely forgotten about school. Infact, he'd forgotten that school was a thing in the first place.

"Well….it's probably not practical for you to commute to your old school from mine, and you're going to live with me so I guess I'll be making phone calls in the morning."

"I see." Hiro stated tonelessly. Tada wanted to ask more from his aunt, but found himself suddenly feeling tired. So, he gave in to sleep.

 **…**

When Tada woke up, he was lying on a dark green leather sofa, with a tartan blanket covering him up. He yawned, and waited for the world to focus around him. It didn't take him long to notice Hiro sleeping on the other sofa, nor did it take him long to realise he was in Chika's house.

"Ah, you're awake." Chika came into the living room, dressed more casually than the day before. "Do you mind _not_ falling asleep in the car next time? You're both too heavy to be carried, you know." She sounded annoyed, but affection was laced into her tone. Tada smiled and apologised as Hiro woke up, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Chika looked at the both of them and gave them a serious but loving look.

"Anyway, I've made you breakfast, and phoned into your old school. I guess you guys can just spend the day how you li-oh, wait, let me show you which bedrooms are yours."

Tada and Hiro followed her up the stairs as she showed them two plain guest bedrooms. Even with their plainness, they were well-kept. Chika apologised for the plainness, and promised that they would be able to redecorate at some point, most likely after their father's funeral. Then, she left them to their own devices while she dealt with everything that needed dealing with.

After eating breakfast and changing, the two of them spent most of the day putting their things away in their rooms. Hiro was quicker than Tada in doing this, and so she went to help him. Afterwards, they went to make use of Chika's TV (after asking for permission) and put in the DVD of their favourite movie.

It was early evening when Chika had news of what school they were going to.

"You'll be pleased to know that based on your current grades, Kunugigaoka Junior High are willing to accept you into one of their second-year classes. You'll be starting next Monday. " she told them, and then waited for their response. They just stared at her. Tada remembered snatches of a conversation he had overheard once when his mother was still alive.

" _Kunugigaoka is the one place I won't send them, Mamoru! I wouldn't want them to go through what we went through, prestige or otherwise!" Tada was surprised at the insistent, pleading tone in his mother's voice after Chiyo and the brats left. Most of the time, his mother was cheerful, except when something annoyed her, such as a frustrating research paper. And when she was annoyed, she might have been persistent, but not in that desperate way. What was so bad about Kunugigaoka?_

" _I know, Hinano, my sweet. I know. Besides, it would be an impractical decision to do so. So don't worry yourself. And ignore what Chiyo-Nee-Chan says about the matter, okay?"_

" _Hmm." At that point, Tada was getting bored, so he decided to stop eavesdropping and go and tell Hiro about what he had heard. And maybe think about what questions to bombard Karasuma with the next time he visited._

"Mum didn't want us to go there!" Tada said. "She _hated_ it there! She absolutely couldn't stand the thought of putting us through that system. Was this Aunt Chiyo's idea? I know she went to that school!"

Chika seemed surprised. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply.

"You're referring to how Hinano-Chan was a former E-Classer, right?" Surprised that Chika knew this, Tada just nodded, dumbstruck.

"The school is basically a breeding ground for bullies. " Hiro added, looking just as shocked. "Karasuma-sensei had some horrible stories. I don't want to become a bully."

" _Karasuma-sensei, Karasuma-sensei! Tell us another story about when you taught Mama! Tell us another story about what the school was like!"_

Chika groaned, and thought for a moment. Then, she spoke again.

"The two of you are very talented, I know. And I know Hinano-Chan wouldn't have liked it, but you've been accepted, and it would be madness to turn them down, you know. The school is very successful, and the academic rigour they have will be sure to suit you. So I'm sure you'll be able to avoid Class E, and you'll be fine if you do. You can stick to your morals either way anyway- no need to become like my sister. " Chika fixed them with a stern look. "So please, _don't_ cause any trouble about this. "

At the mention of trouble, Tada looked down at the table. Trouble was the last thing he wanted to cause. They didn't have anywhere else to turn.

"We won't." Hiro said on his behalf. "We'll be good, Aunt Chika." Tada looked up, and nodded his agreement. But he was still angry, so he quickly looked down again.

"That's good. It'll be fine, I'm sure. But now, I have some work matters to deal with. Will the two of you be okay?"

"Yeah, we will." Tada answered for both of them, despite not being sure of that at all.

 **…**

With the buying of school uniform and other goods, the prep work they got sent and their father's funeral, the time went by rapidly, and before Tada knew it, it was Monday. Time to start at Kunugigaoka. Nervous about it all, Tada and Hiro both got up very early and were ready a whole hour before they needed to be. The two of them passed the time sitting in the living room, each of them reading a favourite novel, while waiting for Chika to finish getting ready. Because it was their first day, she was required to accompany them to the front office to meet the Principal. Tada sincerely hoped they wouldn't have to talk about Kunudon, the school mascot. The acorn-like school mascot made his skin crawl to the point of wanting to kill it (Or, as Hiro put it "It's perfectly adorable-until it speaks. Then, your brain dies"). At the mere thought of Kunudon, he shuddered, distracted from his novel for a moment.

"Okay, kids! Time to go!"

Novels abandoned on the sofa, they picked up their schoolbags and went to put on their shoes. On an impulse, Tada rolled up the sleeves of his blazer before tying his shoelaces. When he straightened, he caught a glimpse of himself and his sister-who was lost in her own world- in the mirror. Kunugigaoka students. Unwilling ones at that. But he would do his best, to get through his time there without dishonouring his parents' memory. It was all that he could do.

 _Even so, I hope I don't end up in the E-Class next year._


	3. Only the First Day

**There are OCs introduced in this chapter! Who they are, and who they belong to, are listed at the bottom of the chapter, and that will be the same in the case of the next few chapters when OCs are being introduced. Infact, you could consider this chapter, the previous one and the next few or so as the 'Introduction Arc' so to speak. Which means spending a little more time in second year, but hopefully none of you mind that. Probably some of you may be wondering if me doing this is effectively spoiling my own story, the answer to which is no- sure, aspects of the OCs' pasts/ personalities etc. will come up and impact the story later, but I never wanted the OCs themselves to be plot twists, if that even makes sense.**

 **Speaking of OCs- the SYOC is still open, but only with four spots left. Any submissions I already have but haven't replied to, I'm still considering, but I'd absolutely love it if more OCs were sent in so I have more options to consider from. Either way, given the small amount of spots left, you'll probably need to keep checking back to see if the SYOC is open or not.**

 **UPDATE 30/6/15: There is ONE OC spot left. Just one. So if you want to send in a character, probably best to do it soon.**

 **Anyway, looking forward to the final set of submissions =^.^=**

To his annoyance, Tada was not in the same homeroom as Hiro. He couldn't understand why. In Riverside, their old school, they had been in the same homeroom, if not in all of the same classes. The same had applied in elementary school. And even though Hiro had needed him to serve as an interpreter between her and the rest of the hearing world, they had their own friendship groups and interests, and weren't joined at the side.

So he didn't see the need for the separation, and consequently he was in a bad mood. But he didn't say anything about it, and pretended to be interested in the Principal's drivel while staring out of the windows. He had to concede the point that the top-floor office had excellent views. Watching students buzz around was interesting. All those different lives. He wondered how affected they were by the monstrosity that was Kunugigaoka.

"Kitakawa-kun?"

Tada jumped, and noticed a tall plum-haired boy standing next to him, regarding him with sharp hazel eyes and a friendly expression. He held out a hand in greeting.

 _Is this guy a ninja?_

"I'm Shou Ueno. I'm the Class 2B Male Class Representative. Since we're both early, why don't I show you some of the school on the way to the classroom?"

"Sure." Tada reached out to shake Ueno's hand, and looked around. Hiro had gone, and the fact he hadn't noticed that, either, disturbed him a little.

"Ah, Aida-kun from Class 2C's already collected your sister, so don't worry . She's not a Class Representative, but she's a very good student. Principal, we'll be going now." The last sentence was directed at Principal Okikura (or the Ultimate Slime Ball, in Tada's mind), who just nodded. Ueno and Tada left the room and began the journey downstairs in silence.

"Ueno-kun, You can just call me Tada." Tada said eventually as a way of breaking the ice. Ueno nodded as if making a point of remembering this.

"Okay then, Tada-kun. I hope you get a fulfilling experience at Kunugigaoka. You must be quite nervous, no?"

"Mhmm…I adapted well to Riverside." He explained, simply. Ueno's raised an eyebrow appreciatively. Clearly, he had heard of Tada and Hiro's old school. _That's…kinda odd. But hopefully a good thing._

"Oh, you went to Riverside before this? I've heard that they're fairly good, too." Ueno nodded in approval. "Our teacher didn't tell us much when we were told a transfer would be joining us. But a student from Riverside…I expect great things. "

"L-like not ending up in Class 3E next school year?" Tada couldn't prevent just a hint of contempt from sneaking into his voice. But he wanted to see if the discrimination was as rampant as the stories and that goddamn Kunudon suggested. Luckily, Ueno seemed to interpret the contempt in a different way.

"That's precisely it. It's good to see you understand the importance of that. Presumably you've done some res-" Ueno stopped in his tracks, and turned to look back at the corridor they had just left, studying the small groups of students milling around. Tada tilted his head curiously at Ueno, who didn't seem to notice as he continued scanning the area. Then, seeming to spot something, he rolled his eyes and strode efficiently back down the corridor, turning a corner. Confused, Tada sprinted to catch up.

"Ruko-kun!" Ueno said this with a mild scolding tone, although he was smiling. When Tada got there, he saw that Ueno was addressing a lanky, caramel skinned girl clutching a camera that hung around her neck on a strap. She was pulling a petulant face like a child who had been caught stealing cookies from the kitchen.

"Shou-Chan! How did you even spot me? You were so busy wi-" spotting Tada, her entire demeanour changed, and she smiled, pale purple eyes glittering evilly. She let go of the camera and twisted a lock of her curly hair around her finger.

"So, you're the new guy, huh? Cute, too. Never thought such a cute guy would be coming here to Kunugigaoka." all of a sudden she was in his face, and her smile had gotten bigger. Tada stepped back, nervously. "It's good to meet you. I'm Kuruko Sorachi! I'm in Class 2B, too. "

"Ruko-kun, you're scaring Tada-kun." At Ueno's words, she turned and stuck her tongue out. All the same, she stepped back slightly, giving Tada some breathing space. He sighed loudly in relief, and almost missed what the girl was saying to Ueno.

"Tada-kun, huh? How cosy?"

"N-no, it isn't like that!" Tada said hurriedly, still feeling a little disoriented by the girl's attempt at flirting. "Everyone calls me Tada, that's all. I'm Tadaomi Kitakawa, and it's good to meet you too, Sorachi-Chan."

"Aww. And here I was thinking the start of a real romance was playing out, right before my eyes…" The depressing aura that suddenly appeared around her was incredibly suffocating. Tada wondered if he'd stepped into an anime. _This...is odd._

"Ignore her." Ueno said casually to Tada. "Ruko-kun's interests get a little…obsessive . It rots her brain."

"No they do not!" She pretended to be angry at Ueno, but was grinning. "Anyway,you seem nice, so you can call me Ruko, if you want, 'kay?"

"Sure thing, Ruko-Chan." Tada sweat-dropped, and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in wonder.

"Now," Ueno said assertively. "Before I caught Ruko-kun, we were meant to be going to the library. Would you still like to?"

 **…**

The first half of the first day went fairly well. He settled into his class well, and found that the work was not too difficult. But there was a more serious, grimmer atmosphere in the classroom. There was certainly no light chatting when independent work was set-unless the teacher left the room. And he knew that was caused by the fear of getting into Class 3E next year. He hung around with Ueno and Ruko, although he made efforts to familiarise himself with the other students in his class. Ueno-who clearly took pride in being a Kunugigaoka student, made sure he knew every corner of the school-and Ruko flirted and joked with him, generally acting as comic relief. It was a good experience, but it annoyed him that he wasn't able to check on Hiro until lunchtime.

Because of the good weather, Ruko had cajoled Ueno and Tada into sitting outside, and the decision had been a good one, because it did feel nice outside. But in addition to that, Hiro had also decided to sit outside, on the other side of the eating area. She appeared to be sitting with a few other girls, and looked as if she was getting along with them. But Tada just wanted to be sure, so he put the chopsticks down next to his bento box.

"Ah, I just need to go over there for a moment." Tada stood up, halting Ueno and Ruko's latest squabble. Ruko looked at him curiously.

"Why? You don't know anyone else in other classes, do you? Or _do you_? "She narrowed her eyes at him, as if trying to detect any yaoi-related goings on.

"My sister's in 2C." Tada explained politely. "I just want to check that she's okay." at that, Ruko's eyes practically turned love-heart shaped.

"That's so sweet….Tada-Chan's a good guy…but nooo, don't abandon us! We need you!" Ruko proclaimed, dramatically, pretending to be on the verge of tears. Tada chuckled, having grown familiar with Ruko's jokes and teasing over the course of the day.

"I'll get you something from the vending machine as well, okay." He placated her by pointing out her diminishing cache of sweets. Ruko's demeanour changed once again, and she grinned and winked, giving him a thumbs up. Ueno face-palmed and muttered something about encouraging her. Tada just smiled and crossed the eating area.

"Hiro." He put his hands on her shoulders to get her attention. Hiro turned and smiled, pale green eyes mirroring his own. She was in the middle of munching a mouthful of omelette, so Tada made to ask her how she was using sign language, but she shook her head, swallowing quickly so she could speak.

"Tada. I've not seen you all day! Everything ok?" she asked, fiddling with her hair.

"I was going to ask you the same thing!" Tada said, making Hiro giggle. "Yeah, I'm fine. "

"Good, good. I'm alright too, just so you know." Hiro replied, regarding him carefully, knowing full well why he had approached her. Tada gave her an appeasing gesture, and then she turned so that she could introduce the girls she was sitting with to him including Airi Aida, the girl who had been tasked with looking after Hiro on the first day. She was a slightly plump girl whose green hair was tied into countless tiny plaits, and she seemed confident and warm, which had Tada breathe an internal sigh of relief. After exchanging a few words with them, and deciding that Hiro would meet him outside his classroom after school, he went over to the vending machine to get some sweets for Ruko. He could feel her anticipatory gaze stalking him.

As he silently debated the merits of the different sweets available, he became aware of a small girl sitting at the table next to where he was standing. She was alone, hunched over a notebook. She also seemed to be absorbed in the flow of her pen, although occasionally she stopped and stared at what she was writing, going back to change something or cross things out. At other times, she stopped to push the sleeves of her too-large sweater back a bit. Her long dark hair made her seem even tinier.

She eventually gave up on whatever she was writing, and turned the notebook to one of its covers, and started to fill in one of the colourful squares that were stuck to it. He quickly realised she was decorating the cover by filling in the square with extracts of poems. This one was in English, which impressed him a lot. He moved slightly to take a closer look, and it was at that moment she noticed him, and looked up.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked, colouring quickly, and hugging the notebook to her chest protectively. She glared at him. Tada jumped, and searched for something to say.

"Tell me, what else should I have done?  
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?  
Tell me, what is it you plan to do  
With your one wild and precious life?"

He felt a lump in his throat as he recited the lines on impulse, verbally completing what the girl had written. Those lines reminded him of his parents more than he realised. _Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?_ He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He blinked, feeling relieved to discover there were no tears in his eyes.

The annoyance on the girl's face changed to curiosity, and her dark blue eyes softened. She still looked wary, and embarrassed. Tada felt compelled to explain himself.

"The poem you're quoting. The Summer Day, by Mary Oliver. I couldn't help but notice it. Those are my favourite lines, actually-they just don't compare to the rest of the actual poem, I think" The girl nodded, and a faint smile played with her mouth.

"I agree wi-"She started off sounding admiring, but then, suddenly, she paused as if realising something. Then, she reddened all over again, and became flustered. "You were reading my work?!" the grip on her notebook became tight again and she returned to glaring at him.

"I wasn't, really, I just glanced and I…" Seeing the aggrieved expression on her face, Tada gave up. He found her expression quite funny, but didn't laugh. "I'll leave you alone now."

Satisfied, the girl returned to her writing, and Tada quickly ordered a sweet, picked it up, and rushed back to the table he was sharing with Ueno and Ruko.

"Here." He threw the packet lightly at Ruko, who caught it nimbly and ripped it open with a surprisingly fierce desperation, scoffing the contents. Tada shook his head in amusement at her clear sugar addiction, and then attended to his own lunch.

"I see you were talking to Akira-kun." Ueno said as Tada started eating again. Mid-munch, Tada tried to process what Ueno was talking about, before figuring out Ueno was referring to the girl sitting near the vending machines. _So, she's Akira. Okay, I'll remember that._

"Yeah, I guess." Tada agreed, even if he wasn't sure that the exchange could be considered a _conversation_ as such. "Why, does that matter?"

"She's in Class 2A. Perfectly polite, but doesn't really mix with others. Always writing in that notebook…." There was something disapproving in Ueno's tone that Tada didn't like.

"Did Akira-Chan do something to you?"

"No, but she's always writing. Never pays attention in lessons, unless it's English, or Languages. That's a direct path to 3E next year."

 _Don't explode,_ He told himself. Ueno didn't seem to derive joy from the idea of Akira being in Class 3E, after all. But he didn't seem too pissed off about it, either.

"Yeah, but things can change in an instant, you know. Perhaps you should wait until, you know, they actually announce Class 3E's members? When do they even do that, anyway?" Tada rebuked mildly.

Ueno smiled sharply, and regarded Tada.

"You're smart. I like you." Ueno declared. "The end-of-year tests are three weeks before. That's in five weeks' time, actually. Then the results get announced a week later, and those who got poor grades are instantly slated for 3E. If you've been suspended during this period, 3E's an inevitability, same goes for any other school rule violations. Mostly it's all decided at the end of the year- the initial class lists for third year are always put up when the results are released. Occasionally some students only find out on the first day because of school rule violations only coming to light then, or they end up excluded in the third year and so they go down at that time. Also, failing grades in the middle of third year gets you there. So a lot of factors contribute to being in Class 3E, but as I said, for the most part it's all decided by the end of the year. Is that sufficient?"

"Y-yes." _How would he react if I told him that Mum was part of 3E all those years ago? And someone who'd made a successful life for herself, no less?_ Of course, he would do no such thing. Firstly because the pain was raw, but also because he wanted Ueno to have a chance, a chance to prove himself.

"Oho, Ueno-Chan, did I just hear you say that you _liked_ Tada-Chan?" they both turned to Ruko, who had finished all the sweets she'd had, and was now grinning at them. It made Tada think of the wolf in _Little Red Riding Hood_. Except that the wolf didn't carry a camera with the intention of photographing anything that looked like a romantic tryst, but still.

"Well, yes, but not like that, Ruko-kun."

Even Tada could tell that Ueno had chosen the wrong words, because now her expression looked even scarier. Unable to conceal his amusement, he sat back and watched the spat between Ruko and Ueno unfold.

 _Now this is going to get interesting._

 **…**

Hiro was leaning against the wall outside his classroom when he came out, talking to another elegant looking girl, who had some of her blond hair gathered in a white bow. Weirdly(to his eyes) her feet were clad in combat boots, which stood out as everyone he saw wore trainers or shoes that just looked like average brown or black school shoes. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it. Even though Hiro seemed to be friendly with her, she wasn't one of the girls from lunchtime.

When Hiro turned and spotted him, the girl did too. She blinked for a moment, notable eyelashes fluttering slightly, and then bowed, before turning back to Hiro.

"I really need to take these papers to the staff office. See you tomorrow Hiro-san. And you too, Tada-kun." Tada noticed that she enunciated her words clearly, the way he was very much used to doing when talking to Hiro. That detail made him like her immediately (as well as the fact she knew his name). And then he remembered where he had seen her- watering the plants outside the school when they'd arrived early that morning. She'd been assisted by another boy, whom he remembered because his tanned complexion and casual way of wearing the uniform had been a contrast to the girl's delicate paleness. That boy was in his class, but Tada couldn't for the life of him recall his name. But he knew both were polite as well as friendly, because they had both paused what they were doing to smile and wave at the two of them before concentrating on the flowers, which really were impressive.

"Bye-bye, Haru." The girl gave a wave, and then disappeared down the corridor. Soon after that, they began to make their way out of the school.

"Haru's nice, but the others in the class don't really talk to her, it turns out." Hiro said by way of explanation. She seemed a little sad when she said that, and so Tada understood the girl was being picked on. He waited a beat, to see if Hiro would explain. She fiddled with her hearing aids for a moment, but shook her head at Tada when he lifted his hands to sign.

"There's rumours that her family are….shady. So they tease her or ignore her. And she just tries to be invisible. I didn't even notice until after lunch. So I decided to talk to her." Hiro elaborated. "Her only friend is Kinomoto-kun. He's interested in plants, and she makes a point of watering the flowers."

 _Ah, that's his name._

"Yeah, we saw them this morning, right? Kinomoto-kun's in my class." Tada added, remembering the polite, friendly boy.

"That's good." Hiro said, absently. They walked in silence for a while longer, navigating the streets comfortably. When they were nearly home, Hiro looked around her as if checking for something, and then started signing to Tada.

" _Do you think your friends would be okay with Haru and I hanging out with you some lunchtimes? Those girls I was with are some of the ones who tease her, so I can't be with them when we do that._ "

" _Of course. I'm sure they'll be fine with it, but if not, we can just hang out, the three of us. Maybe Kinomoto-kun, too!"_ He responded. He wanted to say that the girls Hiro had been with could hardly be good friends if they wouldn't tolerate Haru for her sake, but the same could be said for him and Ueno, with his prejudices. That, and it was the first day, and too soon to judge people.

" _Yay, Tada's the best!"_ Hiro's hands signed enthusiastically as she laughed. Tada laughed in turn, and they continued to converse happily in sign until they went home. Chika was already home when they got there (only because it was their first day), and as she roped them in to making dinner, she persuaded them to tell her about their day, which both of them were happy to do, especially since she seemed reassured afterwards. In return, she told them about her day, and also of the arrangements that were being made to get the rest of their belongings. It was apparently a tricky process, given that Karasuma was meant to have been their legal guardian but couldn't fulfil that role. But Chika reassured them that all would be fine, which both of them were glad to hear.

After dinner, they went to do their homework, before getting ready for bed. Tada had wanted a quick spar with Hiro before bed, but they'd gotten a lot of homework for that first day, and so the time went by quickly. _Still_ ,he told himself, _there would be time for that another day_. He'd make time if need be, homework or because his life had changed, he wasn't about to let the skills he'd gained lapse.

He left his schoolbag on his desk, packed and ready to go, and climbed into bed. He was actually quite tired. He'd expected Kunugigaoka to be a horrible, dark place where he'd never be happy, but he'd had a good first day. He'd made friends, and Hiro had too. And as Chika had said, the work suited them. It was tedious, but just right for their ability levels. But, even so…

" _Did Akira-Chan do something to you?"_

" _No, but she's always writing. Never pays attention in lessons, unless it's English, or Languages. That's a direct path to 3E next year."_

There was still a poisonous feel to the place. Class 3E clearly hadn't changed since his mother had been there.

" _There's rumours that her family are….shady. So they tease her or ignore her. And she just tries to be invisible. I didn't even notice until after lunch. So I decided to talk to her." Hiro elaborated._

And as such, the bullying he so hated was still rife, and nobody seemed to care. Even Ueno was in on it, as well as some of the girls Hiro had been hanging out with. But they didn't seem evil, or cold. They just seemed…well, like him. Like normal middle school students, typical teenagers going through their school days the best way they could. And that didn't jibe with what he already knew of Kunugigaoka.

 _It's only the first day,_ he tried to tell himself. _Only the first day. Not long enough to really understand what the school is like .And you're a second year, so there isn't anything to really worry about yet._

 _Only the first day._ With that thought, Tada fell into a sleep that was more peaceful than expected.

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Kuruko Sorachi (Belongs to: Unicorn819)  
Kiyomi Akira (Belongs to:kawaiichoconeko)  
Haruka Ichinose (Belongs to: LilTimy)  
Makoto Kinomoto (Belongs to: 3-E Student)- I actually bellyached over this a little, as I was not sure if the mention of him in this chapter counted as an introduction. In the end I decided it did, but in case you disagree, I'll tell you now that the way I'm writing/planning it, he _does_ have more of an appearance next chapter.  
**

 **I should probably point out here that this story still won't be updated with any real regularity, as I've still got that other multi-chapter fanfiction to get out of the way. I like to think that I'm making good progress on that though, so it shouldn't take TOO long before I can 'switch focuses' , so to speak. It will be a while though.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave feedback.**


	4. The Exams Draw Closer

**And here I am again, with another chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Edit 13/7/15: The SYOC is now closed! Thank you to everyone who submitted, I am really happy that you all took time to do that! Hopefully you'll all like the rest of the story.**

The smell of sugar and eggs and milk brought back memories of a better time.

" _So, Tada." Mama said, ceasing her dancing for a moment so that she could bend down to his height. "Now we need to decide what cookie cutter to use."_

 _Tada giggled and held out his floury arms so that she could pick him up to look at the cookie cutters on the counter. He regarded them with all the intensity a four year old could muster._

" _That one!" he squealed, pointing at one that was shaped like the sun. Then he looked at the butterfly shaped one, which he knew was Hiro's favourite. "Maybe that one, too? We can do two as well, right, Mama?"_

" _Yup!" She let Tada down and ruffled his hair. "Butterflies and suns it is."_

Even now, Tada enjoyed making sweet things, and even though he was doing so alone, in Chika's kitchen, the feeling was still the same. It was particularly fun because he was making the biscuits and milk toffees for his friends at Kunugigaoka. Of course, there was also the advantage of not needing to ask anyone for permission to lick out the bowl afterwards.

As he put the biscuits into the oven and started on the milk toffees, the doorbell rang.

"Dammit, someone's early. HIRO!" he called, hoping that his sister had put in her hearing aids by now. "Could you answer the door for me?" the pitter-patter of footsteps on the stairs, and then that of the door opening shortly after confirmed that Hiro had heard him, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good Morning, Kitakawa-san." He heard Kinomoto say, "I hope I'm not too early. I bought some flowers from my garden."

"Oh…you didn't need to. I'll find something to put them in." Hiro replied. As an afterthought, she added. "Tada's in the kitchen. You're kind of early, so maybe you could sit in the living room?"

"Of course."

Hiro came into the kitchen then, with a small bunch of colourful flowers in her hand. The beads adorning her jumper made jingling sounds, catching some of the sunlight from the window. For a moment, it gave the surreal experience of the kitchen looking like a disco hall.

"Glass bottle." She told Tada by way of explanation, carefully putting the flowers down on an empty counter and searching for an empty bottle. Finding it, she picked up the flowers again and put them in, before walking over to the sink.

"What are you making?" she said, looking at the oven before turning to where Tada was making milk toffees.

"Milk toffees and chocolate biscuits." He explained. "Mum's recipes."

"Ahh," Hiro murmured nostalgically. "Mama's recipes. You two always baked when Papa took me to doctor's appointments. " A dreamy expression came over her face, and the siblings stood there for a moment, lost in remembering. Hiro was the first to snap out of it.

"I'll keep Kinomoto-kun company until either you finish or everyone else gets here. Then I'll be going upstairs, okay?" Hiro said as she filled the bottle partway with water.

"Okay." Tada said, but Hiro had already left, taking the flowers with her. He grinned at the empty space she left, and then went back to the toffees. With Ruko on the way, he'd need to make _a lot._ When Ueno had come up with the idea of a study group, Ruko had been the most dismissive of it, procrastinator that she was, but when Tada had said he'd make sweets and host their study group, she'd changed her mind pretty quickly.

 _Silly Ruko-Chan._ He still grinned just thinking of how she'd reacted to the promise of sweets.

Haru was the next to arrive, and she had also come bringing something- a box of chocolates, rather than flowers, but still thoughtful all the same. He came out of the kitchen quickly to greet her, and then went back. He soon heard Haru and Hiro engage in a discussion about clothes- apparently Hiro had once made a dress a lot like the one Haru was currently wearing- a pink, girly creation with a collar. The talk baffled him, either way.  
By the time he had finished, the topic of conversation had long since changed as Ruko had arrived, along with Ueno, and he went to sit in the living room with them.

"You seemed quite busy." Ueno said in lieu of a greeting, smiling from where he was sitting on the sofa. Tada nodded.

"Busy with the sweets, you know." He explained, chuckling at the way Ruko's eyes lit up.

"You seemed pretty passionate about it back there, Tada-kun. Is baking something you want to do with your life?" Haru asked.

Tada considered that. "No, not really. It's more a hobby. One I've had for a long time, but just a hobby."

"We have a cooking club, did you know that?" Kinomoto enquired. "You should join. Unless there was another club you were looking at?"

"Erm…" Tada thought of Riverside, and how he'd been part of their student-led Festival Committee. Kunugigaoka didn't have anything like that. Or rather, they did, but that, naturally, was a privilege open only to high-achieving third years. "Clubs aren't really for me…"

 _Well, it isn't a lie. It's probably simpler than the actual truth though._

"Kitakawa-kun joined the Dance Club, if the buzz is correct." Ueno interjected. "She's become something of a sensation in 2-C, isn't that right, Kita….oh, where'd she go?"

At Ueno's startled look, Tada chuckled again. It didn't surprise him in the least that Hiro had snuck off at some point without any of them noticing. No doubt she had gone upstairs to study already, given that she preferred independent revision. He explained this to Ueno.

"Oh, I see. Perhaps we should go upstairs ourselves. That's where we're studying, right, Tada-kun?"

"Wait, what about Aya-Chan?" Ruko asked, referring to their friend Ayako, who was also in Class 2C She was also a transfer student, albeit one who'd been in the school a good few months longer than Tada and Hiro had been. She'd started talking to Tada one day when they had both been trying to find their way to a particular chemistry lab. After that, the rest was history.

"Maybe she's lost…" Tada got up and started to make his way upstairs, and the others followed. Just as they all reached the top of the stairs, the doorbell rang.

"Speak of the devil!" Ueno laughed.

"And his horns appear." Tada finished off the quote from the novel he'd been reading. The others gave him an odd look. For a moment, he wished Akira had been there, because he knew she'd get the reference, or at least understand it was a reference. He gave a deep sigh.

"Wait a moment. No, actually, my room is second on the left, so go there without me. I won't be a moment."

"Okay!" Kinomoto said, cheerfully. "I'll keep these guys in check!"

"Who said we needed keeping in check?!" Ruko demanded through a mouthful of fizzy sweets she had taken from…somewhere. Tada laughed, and left his friends too it as he went downstairs and opened the door to a flustered Ayako . She was holding her phone (which had a map application open) in one hand, and a piece of paper in the other. Her long brown ponytail was coming undone. Tada couldn't help but think that this made her 'Keep Calm' T-Shirt seem particularly ironic.

"Ah, this is the right place!" she exclaimed, looking up at Tada. "Phew! Sorry I'm late!" she breathed a dramatic sigh of relief, and tucked her phone in her jeans pocket.

"No probs. Come in!" he let her in, and after she had taken off her sneakers, they went upstairs. Ayako had a lot of questions about the house, and his aunt, and he answered them all with a good grace, laughing as he did so. The others greeted her warmly when they got to his room, with Ruko teasing Ayako about her inability to get anywhere on time.

"Oooh, is that you as a little kid?" Ayako pointed to the small group of photos on his bedside table. Everyone fell silent as they looked at the pictures. All the pictures were candids, and all featured Tada and Hiro as young children. But the main focus of the three pictures he'd selected to stand there were the adults- one photo featured his mum, the second one his dad, and the final one included Karasuma.

"You look a lot like your mother…that is your mother, right?" Ueno broke the silence, pointing to the picture. Tada nodded as he stared at the picture, which had been taken in their old back garden. The photograph had captured the swinging motion of his mother's wavy ponytail, and her laughter as she hugged a squirmy one-year-old Tada, while little Hiro was trying to climb up their mother's leg. It was one of the photos that best captured what he remembered of her, even if it had been taken at an age he didn't remember much of.

 _Happier times._

"Ahh, kawaii!" Ayako cooed. Ruko also made appreciative noises.

"You do look like her…it's the eyes, and the curly hair, even if yours is black. Hiro-san looks like her too, but not so much. "Haru decided. Everyone agreed.

"So which one's your Dad?" Makoto asked. Tada pointed at the relevant picture, which had been taken at the beach when they were three. Ayako and Ruko seemed to burst from the cuteness. Weirdly enough, they didn't seem to wonder about the photograph with Karasuma, which was weird, because to Tada, that was the funniest one. It had been taken soon after the beach photograph, and it showed Karasuma in a chair reading the newspaper, with Tada and Hiro sitting either side of him, also looking as if they were reading newspapers. Except they had been three at the time, and therefore hadn't been able to read at the time.

"But where are they now, then?" Ayako asked when she was (reasonably) calm. "You said that this was your aunt's house, right? Are they overseas, like Ruko-Chan's parents? Working? Are they in the music industry too?"

Tada felt himself freeze. It was an innocent question, but somehow it got to him. He stared at Ayako, unable to blink for a moment. Then, he leaned back against the wall, and looked up at the ceiling, and his lampshade, focussing on the cracks and patterns he could see.

 _If only that was the case. If only they were overseas and working. If only, if only, if only._ His head was fit to bursting with all the 'if onlys'.

"Tada-kun, are you okay?" Ueno asked, concerned. "You don't seem too good."

Tada nodded, slowly, still looking up at the ceiling. He could sense the concerned gazes of his new friends, but he still felt a little off. It should be a simple thing, correcting Ayako, but it wasn't.

"I think this is a painful topic for Tada-kun." Kinomoto whispered. There was something in his voice that made Tada think that perhaps the plant-loving boy understood something of what Tada was thinking. So, slowly, he met their gazes.

"It's fine, really. They passed away." He explained. Ayako slapped her hands to her mouth, speechless. Ruko leaned over and gave him a hug. Ueno nodded at him comfortingly. Haru and Kinomoto gave him an understanding look.

"Anyway." Ueno said suddenly and briskly, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Since there are just under three weeks left until the end-of-year exams, how about we start studying?"

"That's a good idea." Tada said gratefully. "So, How about we start with those physics problems we all had trouble with last week?"

After some debate, they all agreed on this, and started working. They studied for a good two hours until Ueno stated that his eyes were getting tired, at which point they stopped to chat for a while. When Ruko started to fall asleep from a lack of sugar, Tada went to get Hiro, and then to fetch the biscuits and toffees, which were fallen upon in glee. Then, it was back to studying, with a few intervals of chatting.

Ayako was the first to leave, having scheduled a trip to the cinema with her old friends. Makoto apologetically claimed to have housework that needed catching up on, and so he left soon after. The other three stayed long enough that they actually met Chika, and although it was clear that they were dying to ask her why Tada and Hiro were living with her, none of them did.

"Well, that was useful, I think." Ueno said when he prepared to leave with Ruko. "Thank you."

"Nah, it's no biggie." Tada said. Hiro echoed the sentiments.

"The sweets were amazing! And I even get to take some home! " Ruko jumped around in glee in the hallway. Tada wondered how she was managing to put on her tennis shoes, she was on _that_ much of a sugar rush. That, and he hadn't even given her that many- for one thing, he'd given some to the others, too and in addition, he was saving some of the sweets for someone else.

"No, seriously." Tada startled and realised that Ueno was standing right next to him. _Yup, this guy's a ninja._

"Ruko-kun's one of my good friends." He whispered. "We've lived on the same street since fourth grade, so I know full well how easy she finds it to avoid doing work until the last moment. I don't want her to end up in Class 3E next year, so this is a good thing you did."

Tada blinked, and stared at Ueno. There seemed to be genuine gratitude in his voice. It was…somehow touching. He opened his mouth to reply, when the click of a camera distracted him. Both Tada and Ueno turned to look at Ruko, who was grinning evilly while holding up her camera.

 _When on earth….?_ Tada didn't know what was more depressing- that she had managed to get herself ready in such a short time despite all her bouncing, or the fact that her yaoi radar was in what she'd call full working order.

"Really, can you blame me?" she grinned cheekily.

 **…**

"Good Afternoon, Akira-Chan!" As he'd suspected, Akira was eating her lunch on the roof, reading a book while she did so. He noted that it was an Isabel Allende title, which made him smile. One of the things they'd formed their tentative bond over was their common interest in the author (he a long-time fan, and she a recent convert).

As usual, she simply looked up from her book and smiled, before taking a bite out of her sandwich and then returning to the page she was one.

"I have something for you." He said, sitting down next to her and digging through his school bag. Eventually, he found what he was looking for and pulled out the small packet containing a few of the biscuits and toffees he had made on Saturday.

"Here you go!" he proclaimed, holding it out to her. Akira put down her book and stared, looking wary.

"Do you remember how I invited some friends over for a study group on Saturday? I made some sweets because of that. I decided to save some for you, that's all."

"W-why would you need to do that?" Akira said, a faint blush staining her cheeks. Tada chuckled.

"We're friends, aren't we?" He didn't talk to Akira with the same regularity that he did with Ueno, Ruko and the others and she wasn't a friend in the same way that Tatsuya and Jin were his friends. But all the same, she was a friend. So he said those words with sincerity. After another stunned moment, Akira thanked him and took the packet, abandoning her sandwich. Opening it carefully, she took out a biscuit, and nibbled at it. A few moments later, her face lit up.

"Good?" Tada asked.

"Very." Akira answered simply, concentrating on the biscuit. When she'd finished it, she carefully resealed the packet for later, and went back to her sandwich. Tada took that as a cue to start on his own lunch, and the two sat in a sort of comfortable silence, eating their lunches while Tada looked up at the sky and Akira read her book.

The peace was broken by Aida suddenly bursting out onto the roof, out of breath and very, very annoyed.

"…Aida-Chan?" Tada asked. Akira continued reading, seemingly uninterested.

"You need to be with your sister." Aida said in between attempts to catch her breath. "Ichinose's just gotten into a really bad fight and she's upset."

 _Haru-Chan, a fight? Hiro?_ "Was Hiro involved?" Tada asked, leaping to his feet. Aida shook her head, all her tiny braids swinging.

" You know how friendly she is with Ichinose, despite all the rumours about her and all…." Which wasn't answering his question. But even so, Aida didn't need to say anymore, because Tada was already running down to find his sister, yelling apologies to Akira as he did so. It didn't take long to find out where the fight had taken place- for a large group of students had formed a ring outside the door of that particular classroom, with cat-calls and screaming ringing off the walls.

"Excuse me, sorry, let me through." He muttered, pushing through the students, all of whom seemed perversely engrossed in whatever was happening. By the time he actually managed to reach the middle of the circle, various injured students were attempting to leave the scene, aided by friends. Most of those children looked seriously injured, which shocked Tada.

But, more than that, he was astonished to see Haru being led away by a teacher, who looked very, very angry. Haru herself was as unruffled as Tada had ever seen her- her face was red and slightly bruised, her pretty eyes narrowed, and her hair ribbon coming undone. She also had an air of resignation about her, evident in the lines her mouth formed and the way her hands(also bruised, and a little bloody) hung by her side as she followed the teacher. A few students visibly recoiled as Haru walked past them, but she didn't react. It seemed clear that she was responsible for at least some of the injuries the various students had gained, but Tada didn't understand it.

The other notable thing about the scene was the girl sitting on another boy's back. Neither of them looked remorseful about anything, although there were angry tears threatening to leak from her dark brown eyes as she yelled at the boy in a voice that managed to be both husky and silvery at the same time. Tada thought that maybe the girl was in his class, but the boy seemed to be a senior. But there was no sign of Hiro.

"Hey, Aida-san, I thought you sai-" he turned to discover that Aida hadn't followed him, as he assumed. He quickly scanned the scene, but she was nowhere to be found. _Odd. But where is Hiro?_

"I…erm…" Tada tried to remember the name of the girl sitting on the senior. "Tsukuda-Chan? Have you seen my sister? Do you know her? She's in the same year as me, and someone told me she was involved, do you know what happened?" Tada babbled, hopelessly. Tsukuda stopped berating the senior, and looked at him.

"I know of your sister, Kitakawa. Don't worry, I got her out of the way quickly. She's with Yukiyama. " Tada blinked at the unfamiliar name. He wanted to ask who Yukiyama was, but decided not to. That wasn't particularly important at the moment.

"Where?" he demanded. The girl sighed, and got up, allowing the senior to sit up, rubbing his back. He muttered something about her being a jerk, and the girl turned on him, viciously. Tada noticed that the girl was taller than him (although not by much), and that her blazer was tied around her waist. He got the impression of a superhero, or a vigilante. _I approve._

"That, you goddamn idiot, is what you get for teasing someone who never did anything to you? So what if Ichinose's a yakuza girl? She hasn't done anything wrong! And why on earth did you need to punc-"

"But, Tsukuda…" The boy interrupted. Tsukuda spun around and slapped the senior in the face, stopping his protests. The remaining students watching laughed, and Tsukuda glared at them.

"What happened, exactly? With Haru-Chan, I mean." Tada asked, still looking for his sister, and hoping for answers. Tsukuda turned, clearly having forgotten that he was there.

"Why?"

"Well…Haru-Chan is Hiro's friend, and so she's my friend. I know about the rumours, a bit. So, could you tell me?"

Tsukuda sighed, and undid her long black ponytail, retying it as she spoke.

"Honestly, I think Ichinose just lost it. A group of our classmates-"she paused to indicate where the injured students had been before continuing. "-thought it would be funny to corner her and ask her about her family's activities. She was tidying up the classroom after lesson, and tried to ignore them and leave, but they didn't let her, instead taunting her and challenging her to show off her 'yazuka skills'. This…this is the end result. " she finished. "Ichinose is headed to Principal Okikura's office, and I can guarantee she's in the process of getting excluded. I should be there too. But whatever. You know what exclusion means, don't you, Kitakawa?"

Tada sighed. He did know, and he _hated_ that Haru would now have to go through that. But Hiro was his priority.

"W-what about Hiro?" he asked, mentally preparing himself for the answer. For the first time since the encounter, Tsukuda smiled.

"Don't worry, she's not in trouble. But she did try to pull Ichinose away before the worst of it, and got struck in the stomac-no, no, she's not seriously injured, and I made sure the scumbag responsible paid." The senior Tsukuda had been sitting on let out an aggrieved cry, which told Tada everything he needed to know about why he had been sat on in the first place. Tsukuda didn't react to that beyond rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Yukiyama was passing by, so I made him take her to the nurse's office. She didn't see the fight when it _really_ kicked off. " Tsukuda sighed again.

Tada felt a mixture of relief, gratitude, and shame that he hadn't been there to do the job. He narrowed his eyes at the senior who had punched listened to the exchange, and the senior's eyes widened, and he pushed through the group of students and ran off. More followed, to Tada's relief.

"So you sent her away with Yukiyama before the fight got serious?" he asked, wondering why Aida had sent for him, all the while trying to recall which one of her friends had the family name of Yukiyama. He came up blank.

"Yes."

"Okay…before I go, could you tell me wh-"

"Tsukuda-san! I thought we had ordered you to come up to Principal Okikura's office _immediately_! " The same angry teacher who had been with Haru arrived back on the scene, causing the final onlookers to scatter. Tada didn't recognise the teacher, but Tsukuda did, because her face became a schooled expression of careful anger.

"Yes, sensei. Please hold on." She turned back to Tada. "Yukiyama is in Class 2C, same as Kitakawa. He wasn't involved in the incident, plus, Kitakawa likes him. But she was asking for someone to find you, so go now. Okay?"

"Y-yes." _Asking for me. And I wasn't there._ At least that explained why Aida had come to get him, although not why she had disappeared. There was also the small matter of Yukiyama being a boy. As far as he knew, apart from Kinomoto and Ueno, Hiro hadn't really been talking to any of the other boys in the school. So whoever Yukiyama was remained a mystery to him. Shrugging it off, he started to head to the medical room when something occurred to him, and he stopped and turned to face Tsukuda.

"Oh, Tsukuda-Chan? Call me Tada." Tsukuda tilted her head at him, curiously.

"Why?"

"Everyone does. That, and consider it a thank you. For stepping in." _Because what you did makes you a friend of mine. Of Hiro's, too._

Tsukuda nodded, trying (and failing) to conceal what was clearly happiness at his statement. "In that case, it's Hanae to you."

"Tsukuda-san! Do you wish to have insubordination added to your school disciplinary record, too?" the angry teacher boomed. Tsukuda rolled her eyes conspiratorially, and gave Tada a last thumbs up before following the teacher reluctantly.

Now more or less alone, Tada searched for Ueno and the others, and felt a moment of anger when he didn't see any of them. But, as finding Hiro was more important, he clamped down on that and went in search of her. It took him some time and enough false turns to make him feel like he was Ayako, but he eventually found the spacious nurse's office. All the injured students were there, some lying in beds, others just sitting at the end. The two school nurses divided their time between the students, and he stopped one of them momentarily to find out where Hiro was. The nurse pointed him to a bed right at the very end of the room, and thanking her, he ran up to that bed.

Hiro was sitting on the bed, leaning against the pillows. She had taken off her school sweater and was holding an icepack under her shirt. The necklace which was normally concealed under her clothes was exposed. And she was talking to a boy sitting on a chair next to the bed. Pale, with dark hair and light brown eyes, Tada assumed him to be Yukiyama. There was something harsh and far-off in his manner, and the two of them were talking fairly quietly, but they seemed to be getting on well. Hiro in particular seemed hooked to his every word, a faint pink blush brightening her chee- _oh, wait._ He remembered how Tsukuda has said that Hiro 'liked' Yukiyama. At the time, he had thought she was referring to a simple opinion of character. _How dense am I?_ He also wondered why he hadn't noticed the change in Hiro before.

He smiled at the realisation that his sister had a crush, and at the same time, both Hiro and Yukiyama turned to see him standing at the foot of the bed.

"Tada!" Hiro breathed, gratefully.

"Hiro." Tada said, simply. "You okay?" before Tada could answer, Yukiyama got up.

"I'll be off now." He said abruptly. He walked away, giving Tada a surly look. He wondered what it was that Hiro saw in Yukiyama. _Only time'll tell, I guess. Hopefully Hiro will, too._

"Bye, Saito." Hiro called, softly. Yukiyama didn't return the farewell, but there was something in the way that his gait softened that suggested to Tada that he had acknowledged it.

"Saito-kun, huh? Already on first name terms?" he teased, taking the seat that Yukiyama had been sitting in. Hiro blushed even harder, and looked down at her laughed, and Hiro looked up again, smiling even as she became comparable to a tomato.

"I hear you like him. You'll have to tell me about that later,'kay? But what I need to know is- are you okay?"

"Mhm." Looking around her to check nobody was watching them, she started signing. " _I broke one of my hearing aids though. Will Aunt Chika be mad?"_

" _Of course not."_ Tada thought about asking why she was so worried about another student spotting the fact she was deaf, but then realised that was a stupid thought- this was Kunugigaoka, and the incident with Haru reminded him all too deeply of that.

" _They were going to video it, you know? They wanted to get Haru mad, and then video it and post it on Facebook or some place. Like, you know, a hey-look-it's-the-yakuza-daughter-going-bat-shit-viral-video or whatever. Because apparently fist fights are funny. But unfortunately for them, when Haru did get annoyed, the first thing she did was knock the phone away. And I think she broke it."_

" _Good for her."_ Tada couldn't help but sign, giving a wry laugh as he did so. Hiro giggled, too.

" _They got most of the others- my class, but some third years too- to block the doorway as well, so that Haru couldn't just walk away. But to be fair to Aida-san, I don't think she realised that I was there, or that it would get bad. When the senpai hit me and I fell, she went to get you straight away. Oh, and don't get mad at Kinomoto-kun or Ayako or any of them, okay? I told them to go straight on ahead without me, so they didn't know."_

" _Ah, I see."_ Tada breathed a sigh of relief, glad that none of his friends were complicit. Then, he clocked something. _To be fair to Aida-san_. All of a sudden, he realised why Aida had disappeared as soon as she'd found him. He sucked in a breath, and Hiro's expression told him that his conculsion had been correct.

"Oh, Hiro." He sighed, sadly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there at the time." He lamented aloud, suddenly feeling heavy.

Hiro shook her head sadly, adjusting her icepack.

"Don't be. You were spending time with Akira-san, right?" She said. "That's not a crime. Besides, you would have just gotten yourself excluded, too. Like poor Haru." Her voice went a little thicker, signalling her sadness, and Tada reached over to hug her for a moment, careful not to injure her further. When he sat back, Hiro smiled at him.

"So," Tada asked. "Will you be able to go back to class, or do I need to get the teachers to sign you off for the day?"

"Nah. I have every intention of going back to class." She stated determinedly. "I want to stare down every last one of those dumb-bells. Idiots, the lot of them."

Tada chuckled heartily at Hiro's novel insult. Dumb-bells, indeed.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. There's still some time left until lesson starts again though. Take it easy until then."

Hiro nodded and leaned back a little more, shifting to make herself more comfortable.

" _You'll stay?"_ she signed.

" _Of course."_ He replied, instantly.

 **…**

At the end of the day, Tada went to meet Hiro at her class. Ueno and the others, horrified by what had happened (once they had been told) stuck close to them. Ever knowledgeable on Class 3E and how one could end up there, Ueno confirmed that as a result of whatever had happened, both Haru and Tsukuda would be in Class 3E next year, and nothing could be done about that- and they'd remain excluded for the rest of the year, even though they'd have to come in for the exams anyway. It was just the way things were. But, to his credit, he admitted that it was a sad way for things to turn out, especially if Haru had been bullied to the extent claimed.

When they got home, Tada and Hiro opted to not do their homework straight away as they had become accustomed to, and instead decided to have a few combat rounds after changing. Then, they watched an old favourite anime series until Chika came home. As predicted, she didn't get mad at Hiro's broken hearing aid, having prepared for such an eventuality almost as soon as she'd known they'd be in her care. So in that respect, everything was fine.

Tada never did find out everything that happened in that fight, but it did change things. Hiro's friendship with Aida became a lot more strained, and she started to have trouble sleeping. Tada noticed that she would turn off her hearing aids in school more often, relying on lip-reading to get her through the day, but just tuning most other things out. Naturally, nobody was any the wiser. Apart from Aida, most of her other friendships remained intact. Her academics didn't suffer at all, as this was something she was always good at, but she didn't seem to care only times she was more like her usual self was when she was with Tada, talking to Yukiyama, or attending dance club. Apart from that, she seemed only to be killing time.

Tada, on the other hand, went the other way. He spent more time with Ueno and the others and even managed to get Akira to join them a few times. He practised sparring with more intensity, usually with Hiro, but when Tatsuya and Jin came around to visit one time he did have a session with Jin, who was an aspiring boxer. He also threw himself headfirst into his studies, holding more study groups at his house, as well as studying alone. He wanted to do well, and more than that, he wanted to be one of the best in the year. He figured that something needed to change, and since Kunugigaoka was an academically oriented school, he thought that the only way to do that was to get to the top. If he was respected by the school, they'd listen when he spoke. So he approached his school life with intensity, determined to reach his goals.

And all the while, the end of year exams drew closer.

 **So...I still have one OC spot left, and I really, really need some submissions for that, and it REALLY doesn't matter if you've given me characters already (as I keep saying, lol). As usual, below are the OCs introduced in this chapter. Please do leave feedback!( EDIT 13/7/15: this bit can be ignored now-see note at the beginning of the chapter)**

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Ayako Takashita (Belongs to: Fryllabrille201)  
Saito Yukiyama (Belongs to: 3-E Student)  
Hanae Tsukuda ( Belongs to: xXxAnGeLFLoNnExXx)-EDIT 12/7/15: turns out I mis-typed Tsukuda's surname the first time I uploaded this chapter, so the reupload is to fix that ^^**

 **I wonder how many times I'll be reuploading this chapter, lol ^^**


	5. This Is How I Knew

The day of the exams came, and Tada and Hiro decided to get there as early as possible. They did so, arriving at the school gates over an hour before the school day usually started. An hour and a half before the exams would begin. But that didn't bother either of them, so they just decided to head inside, as a few other students were doing the same.

And as they went through the gates, Tada tripped over another student. Spluttering in surprise, he managed to hold his hands out in front of him to break the fall, while Hiro stepped neatly to the side.

"Ouch! Oh, crap, where'd my pencil go?" a male voice cried out.

Tada moved to a sitting position to look at the other student, who was still sprawled on the ground, now muttering a stream of curses as he tried to reorient himself. A book was a few feet away, looking like it had dropped there. And sure enough, a pencil had rolled a few feet away. And then Tada clocked something. The boy was speaking (or rather, mumbling) in _English_. American-accented English, to be precise.

 _Another transfer student-exchange this time? Or maybe a returnee?_ The boy certainly didn't seem foreign, but he couldn't be sure.

"Hey," Tada said in English, getting up and walking over to get the book and pencil, before approaching the boy and kneeling down in front of him. "Are you hurt? I hope I didn't knock you over too badly."

The boy lifted his head slightly, and stared at Tada, a mixture of apprehension and annoyance flickering in his teal eyes. There was something feminine about the boy's features, but that was mostly masked by the immense distrust in his expression.

"Why are you talking to me in English?" he spat out in Japanese as he sat up, wincing. Tada sweat-dropped. _Erm….._

You're the one who started that." Hiro retorted before Tada could point that out himself. She approached them, stopping by Tada's side. Tada looked up to study her face, and was relieved to find that her expression was not the blank one she'd been wearing all these days. In fact, she seemed a little more interested in her surroundings. Noting that made Tada feel a little relieved.

"Did I?" now the boy looked confused as he blinked and rubbed his head. "I was just trying to finish the crossword before I went in…" his tone became almost plaintive, and Tada looked down at the book he was holding. Sure enough, it was a crossword puzzle book. _Well, at least that explains the pencil._

"Don't worry, I have your things. Here, I'll help you up." He said, holding out a hand. The boy looked at it sceptically, and a few moments passed as Tada and the boy stared each other down. In that time, Tada felt Hiro move away, but didn't look to see why. Eventually, the boy sighed and accepted the hand, and they both got up. Tada checked himself over briefly for any injury, while the boy dusted down his shirt and trousers.

"Could I have my things now please?" the boy asked, curtly. Tada rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to point out that he shouldn't have been doing crossword puzzles while walking, but simply handed the book and pencil to him.

"Thank you." The boy said, again curt. Just at that moment, Hiro came back, followed closely by Tsukuda and Haru. Tada's jaw almost dropped open, and then he remembered that excluded students still had to take end of years, even if they (like Tsukuda or Haru) were second years who were soon to be part of Class 3E.

"Oh, Kitabayashi, you've met our transfers. Have you introduced yourself to them?" When the boy stared blankly at her, Tsukuda grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, but in a gesture that seemed more like exasperated affection than anything.

"Silly Kitabayashi. Not all of us here are bad, you know. You should've at least told them your name. How did you encounter each other anyway?"

Tada quickly explained what had happened, while Kitabayashi stood there and stewed in embarrassment. Tsukuda laughed at the story, and then insisted on introducing them properly, and only then did she return Kitabayashi to his crossword puzzles, mumbling English utterances of annoyance as he walked away. From Tsukuda's brief interactions with him, Tada guessed that Kitabayashi was another student who got bullied for one reason or another.

"So….it seems like your morning's been eventful already." Haru said, smiling. Tada and Hiro agreed.

"Head in the clouds, that one. To an extreme level. Wants to be a writer, I think." Tsukuda said, shaking her head in amazement.

"Oh, kinda like Akira-Chan." Tada said aloud, thinking of his small dark haired friend and the notebook she always had with her. Tsukuda shrugged at that.

"Shall we go in?" Haru asked them. They all agreed, and so they went inside. Tsukuda used her phone to load the school email that listed exam rooms so that they could find the room. As they did so, they walked past a group of third-years who were moving in the opposite direction. Tada couldn't say he knew them in any real way, but a few times when he'd booked a library table to study, some of them had also been studying there, and they'd exchanged greetings. So he did the same this time.

"Ohayou, senpai!" he called cheerily, keeping the greeting collective. "You have exams today too, right? Good luck!"

One of the third-years who he wasn't familiar with just stared, gobsmacked. "Y-yeah. "

"High school entrance exams, but they're later today." A third-year girl who recognised him added.

"Good luck to you, too!" said another third-year who recognised him, smiling warmly. A few of the others chimed in with their own well wishes, some of them sceptically so.

"Thank you." Tada bowed quickly and the groups of students continued walking in the directions they were going. He could hear the third-year students whispering, some sounding dumbstruck.

"The more I see of you here, the more I like you, Tada." Tsukuda said, patting him on the shoulder. Tada jumped at the gesture.

"Why?" he asked. Tsukuda chuckled, but there was something pissed-off in the quality of the sound.

"Those third years. You're friendly with them?"

Tada shrugged. "Saw them in the library, from time to time. They're nice. But it's not as if I could tell you any of their names. Does it matter?"

"Tada, they're E-Classers." Tsukuda said, speaking slowly as if he was dense. Tada blinked, and then in a rush, clarity hit them.

 _Oh. They're the current members of Class ._ Wildly, Tada turned to look at the third-years, but they'd already gone out of sight. Hiro squeezed his hand briefly and reassuringly. Tada looked at his sister, and they exchanged loaded glances. He knew that in that moment, they were both thinking of their mother. Wondering if any main campus students had shown them kindness. Tada remembered a funny story about the baseball team, and a Class 3E member who had been part of it before becoming a Class 3E member, but apart from that, he couldn't recall anything. Not at that moment, anyway.

 _How sad._

When Kinomoto, Ueno, Ayako and Ruko headed towards them, Tada put away those thoughts, and the group of friends chatted for a little while about their nerves and whether they'd studied or not. Naturally, Ruko hadn't studied much at all, but she didn't seem bothered at all, just eating her fill of sweets before the exams started.

"Your life expectancy lowers with every bag of sweets you eat, you know." Ueno said, sounding world weary. Tada knew that this comment was just a mask for Ueno's concerns about his long time friend's grades, but Ruko just gave him a snarky look, coming up with a response to match.

"If that were really true, the numbers would assume that I'd died in 1732." Hiro let out an unexpected laugh at that startled some of the other students milling around near them. This in turn made the rest of their little group laugh. Tada also found it funny, but mostly, he was just relieved. _She'll be okay._

"Ah, oh yeah, before I forget!" Everyone turned to Tada. "After the exams, don't ask me how they were, or ask me to discuss any of the questions with you, please." He requested, turning the topic of conversation away from Ruko's sugar habit.

Apart from Hiro, everybody just gave him a confused look. Ayako's look was particularly bug-eyed.

"Why?" she enquired curiously.

"Post-mortems are for dead bodies, not exam papers." He explained, using the response he always did whenever the subject came up. Tsukuda, Haru and Hiro laughed, but the others remained baffled. All the same, they agreed not to ask him about the exams afterwards.

"But Hiro-san, you don't mind discussing exams after, right?" Haru asked, turning to Hiro.

"You can ask….but truthfully, as soon as I leave the exam room I forget the questions." She said, remaining straight-faced even as some of them chuckled.

"Seriously?" Ayako asked, envious. "Oh, I wish I could do that!"

"It's not a special skill, Ayako…"

"Sure it is!" Ruko said, sticking her tongue out. Then, she seemed to spot something, because all of a sudden she was clutching her camera and running down the corridor, baffling them all again.

The time after that passed quickly, and soon it was time to go into the exam room. Ruko returned from whatever so called romantic-tryst she'd spotted, and along with Ueno, was one of the first to go in. Their group followed soon after, although not all at the same time, as there were many other students.

Just as Tada was about to go to his seat, he felt a tug on his blazer sleeve, and turned to find Akira right next to him.

"Good luck." She mouthed, managing to keep the silence in the room, thereby making sure the invigilating teacher wouldn't get annoyed. _Haha, that's clever._ Tada smiled.

"Thanks, you too." Akira didn't respond, instead going to her seat. Tada did the same, and it wasn't long after that that everyone else was seated, waiting, ready to go.

The teacher got up, scanning them all with a critical eye. He walked up to the board, where all the subjects they'd be getting papers on were listed. Checking the time on his watch, the teacher wrote it on the board, next to the first subject they'd be tested on-English.

"You may begin."

 **…**

The English paper was fine, as was Literature. The Social Studies paper wasn't much of an issue either.

And then the Maths paper came along.

Usually, Tada was good at Maths. He liked it, as did Hiro, although he'd had to work harder at understanding it. But that hard work usually paid off, and that's what it did, at first. He got through the first page of questions easily, thoughts punctuated by the scribbles of those around him. But when he turned the page to tackle the latest in a string of algebra questions, he was assaulted by the memory of the last class he'd ever had at Riverside. A maths lesson, with Jin sitting behind him and Tatsuya in front of him, all three of them somehow half-congregating around his table, working on the maths questions. Hiro reassuringly present in the same classroom, working alone as she usually did. And then Principal Morimoto, appearing in the doorway, shattering their worlds.

The recollection made him dizzy, and as he looked down at the exam paper, numbers and words began to detach from the paper and float away, spinning in lazy circles more befitting dandelion seeds. Desperately, Tada tried to reach out and pin them down using his pen, but to no avail. He looked around him, at the room full of strangers to see if anyone else was losing their questions, but all other heads were bent.

 _Let this be some crazy, crazy dream, please._ He poked himself with the pen he was using, but it hurt, and text continued to swirl. _I have to do something._

Putting pen to paper, he just scribbled randomly, trying to remember what the questions were before they flew away. And somehow, he got to the end of the paper, breathing a heavy sigh of relief when he did. He was sure his predicament was obvious, but not even the teacher reacted when collecting Tada's paper.

For the rest of the exams, the questions didn't disappear or spin or do anything strange, but the maths paper had drained him, and recalling what he studied was too much for him. So, in the end, the answers he gave were random, hoping for the best.

When finally, the tests were over, he couldn't leave the room fast enough.

 **…**

"Hey, Kinomoto-kun, aren't you going inside to check your results?"

A week later, and the end of year results were up. In anticipation, Hiro and Tada had arrived early, as had many other students. Hiro herself had already headed in, having spotted Yukiyama. Seeing his sister blush over the distant boy made Tada grin, so he'd left her to it, and had gone over to Kinomoto, who was watering the plants alone, and seemed to be in no rush to see what his results were.

"No, not really. I already have a vague idea of what they'll be." The serious expression on his face suggested this wasn't a good thing. Sensing some loneliness, Tada squatted down next to his plant-loving friend.

"You don't know for sure." Tada insisted, thinking of his own examination disaster. After the exams, all his friends seemed to sense that something was up, but only Ayako had been inquisitive enough to disobey his earlier request and ask about the papers. Even Yukiyama had spotted something (if only to the extent that on the way to lunch that day he asked "Did you see a ghost or something in the exam hall?" before turning away and going to wherever it was he had been going to).

But Tada hadn't said anything about it to any of his new friends, and he hadn't even told his old friends when chatting with them online. Naturally, he'd told Hiro, but all he'd said was that he'd had flashbacks about the day they'd found out their father had died. Mentioning the disappearing text seemed a step too much for him. But either way, he was still hoping for the best. A blip was a blip, after all.

 _It has to be fine. Otherwise Mum and Dad will be sad, wherever they are._

"Truthfully, I don't think I'd studied all that well…" Kinomoto held up a hand to halt Tada's protests, and then adjusted his tie before continuing. "Sure, we had some useful study groups, but closer to the time, I was doing a lot of housework, especially since the washing machine broke…."

Kinomoto trailed off, and sighed, giving Tada a smile.

"It kinda sucks, but it's only a year, right?" he reasoned, sounding overly optimistic. Tada didn't think that was how Kinomoto actually felt, but he wasn't sure how to challenge him on it.

"Kinomoto-kun…."

"So," the smile became a grin. "Until then I may as well keep the plants in good health, for Ichinose-san as well as the plants themselves." At the mention of Haru, Tada gave him a thumbs up and stood up.

"I'll check your results for you while finding mine." He promised. "Okay? You fine with that?"

"Of course ."

As Tada walked away, another student walked past him, heading to Kinomoto and the plants.

"Hey, Azama-kun." He greeted the taller, dark-skinned boy. Azama nodded, dyed grey hair obscuring his right eye just a little bit more than usual.

"Greetings, friend." Azama replied, holding his hand out for Tada to shake as he usually did. Tada obliged.

"Are you going to find out your results, or have you already?" Tada inquired, tilting his head as he tried to read the mood of his odd classmate.

"Ah, Tada-san, I don't need to find out what category the system has deemed fit to shove me into this time around. Why should I? Don't you agree?" Azama calmly said.

"I…erm…." Tada garbled, confused once again. _Should I be used to this by now?_

Azama's smiled slightly.

"I suppose categories comfort some. So I'll leave you to it, and I think I'll spend this time assisting Kinomoto-san." Azama conceded, and then nodded at Tada once more before going to do what he said he would.

With that, Tada made his way into the crowded assembly hall, trying to find the results board, his friends, or both. Many times, he apologised as he collided into various people. None of his friends seemed to be there, although he did spot Hiro on the other side of the room with some of her friends from her club, and Yukiyama pushed past him to leave the room without realising who he was.

Eventually, he was actually able to see the board, but there were still too many students in front of it for him to even consider looking for his name, let alone Kinomoto's. And then he spotted Ueno, talking to some other boys from their class. All of them looked ecstatic, so Tada figured they'd all done well enough to stay out of Class 3E. _Good for him, I'm glad._

"Ueno-kun!" he called out over the din of laughter, crying and teenage chatter. "Ueno-kun, over here!" as he continued trying to get his plum-haired friend's attention, he moved closer to him until he could grab his shoulder.

"Hey, Ueno-kun, it looks-" his message of congratulations withered on his lips when Ueno gave him a cold, empty look. There was no sign of friendliness, or even recognition, in those eyes. _I'm a stranger_ , was his first-involuntary-thought upon seeing that look _._ but that wasn't what chilled him the most. No, what scared him was the fact that the closest he'd ever seen to such a look was the way Ueno regarded those in 3E.

"Ueno-kun?" Tada tried again. Ueno's lip curled in contempt, and he shrugged off Tada's hand. After one more cold look, he turned his back and gestured to his classmates. The boys sniggered at Tada, and the little group walked away, presumably to class. Ueno didn't bother to look back.

And that was how Tada knew that next year, he would be a member of Class 3E.

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Kachi Kitabayashi (Belongs to:xXxAnGeLFLoNnExXx)  
Remjiro Azama (Belongs to: Dr-J33)**

 **I wanted to introduce one or two more characters in this chapter, but I couldn't find a way to make it work. Oh well. Anyway, after this chapter, I'm thinking that this 'Introduction Arc' will have two or three more chapters to it, depending on word counts and suchlike. I don't want a chapter ending up as long as my one-shot 'Circus Time' was...that was just ridiculous. Fun to write though. But still ridiculous (on Word Document it was over 20 pages!)**

 **But anyway, speaking of the Introduction Arc, I have a question for you guys: Would you like it if after the Introduction Arc, I started writing chapters from the POVs of other students? Since everything save the prologue has been from Tada's POV so far, I intend on keeping it like that for the remainder of the Introduction Arc. But after that, I was thinking that it would make the story better if I put in POVs from others, mostly students, and mostly 3E students at that, but maybe some adult character POVs too. So what do you think of that? Good idea, bad idea? Leave me a line or two about what you think of that in a review!**

 **Oh, and one last thing! As soon as I figure out how it's actually done, I'm going to start tracking the tag 'Ending the End Class' on Tumblr. I've already used this tag a couple of times anyway, so I figured that I may as well continue. So if you have Tumblr, and want to show me what your OC looks like, or just generally want to draw fanart for this fanfic, then you can tag it with 'Ending the End Class' and I can look at it, enjoy it and then reblog it/ queue it.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please leave feedback ^^**


	6. The Distant Ocean

**Here's another chapter! I'm happy to say that from this point on the updates will be regular, meaning you should expect a new chapter between every 5-10 days, although I do aim for a simple once-a-week. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Oh, and don't forget the Tumblr tag! =^.^= Looking forward to seeing the fanart you guys come up with!**

"What, Tada Kitakawa? Are you sure?"

"I can't believe it, wasn't he meant to be smart and all?"

"Pfft, clearly he isn't, otherwise he would have done better. Either way, I'm not associating with him."

"Well, naturally. If Kitakawa-kun's one of those horrible delinquents, who'd want to know him? Sure, he's kinda cute and all, but Class 3E is Class 3E."

"But you know, I really feel sorry for his sister. She's like, at the opposite end of the scale. "

"Oh, yeah, didn't she get some of the highest marks this year? I feel soooo sorry for her-how must she feel, having a loser for a brother?"

"The trouble is, she's too nice, so she'd never admit that he disgusts her now, but I'm sure he does. If my little brother ended up in Class 3E when he reached third year, I would be so disappointed in him, and I'd say so."

"Perhaps she should just top herself, to save from having to deal with the humiliation. I'd do that."

"Hey, that's rude. It's not her fault that her brother's a worthless piece of shit. If anything, he's the one who should kill himself-let his sister make the most of her status without being dragged down by association."

The whispers had gradually become more vicious as the day had gone on. By far, he wasn't the only one who'd had to deal with it. As Kinomoto had predicted, he too had ended up on the Class 3E class lists, as had Ruko. When they'd bumped into Ayako on the way to class, it turned out she had too, and suddenly many of the people each of them had been friendly towards had stopped talking to them, and instead whispered behind their backs, or just pointed and giggled and sneered. It was horrible, but Tada knew that it was only the beginning, so as lessons started, he just sat there, knuckled down to his work, and tried to ignore the whispers, which started off being generally about those in the class who'd been that unlucky, and then eventually worked down to being focussed upon him. He rationalised it by telling himself it was his status as a transfer student that sensationalised his situation, and that made it just a little bit easier to deal with.

And that approach had worked fine, until they'd started to talk about Hiro. And, more to the point, once they had started bringing suicide into the equation. _How can they talk about taking your own life so easily?_ After one of them had brought in the idea of suicide, the others had taken it up eagerly and run with it, and now the air took on a poisonous feel, making his skin crawl and his mind seethe. All while the teacher just sat there, calmly reading a book and occasionally checking that they were all doing the work. Acting as if nothing was wrong.

"But that's a bit old-fashioned, isn't it? He's no samurai."

"Mhm, and besides, that would be way too dignified. It's not like he's got any honour left, being in Class 3E."

"Maybe he should poison himself?"

Realising that his classmates were actually discussing suicide methods, Tada found himself morbidly drawn to the conversation. He was torn between hatred of their light-hearted attitude towards something so serious, and relief that at least they weren't wishing his friends to their deaths.

"No, no, I have a better idea! He should just get one of his new delinquent friends to drive him around and then crash the car in a tree or something! Get rid of two scumbags, make more space on this earth!"

He didn't bother to hear what anyone said to that, because he'd had enough. Swiftly, he stood up and pushed his chair in. Then, just as swiftly, he strode out of the classroom door, ignoring surprised gasps. The teacher's voice called his name, but he ignored it. _So only now you decide to do something, sensei? Huh, call yourself a teacher!_ If he had stayed a moment longer, he probably would have moved in the other direction, to the back of the classroom, and then noses would have been broken. Or at the very least, a few bruises would have been given out. And he didn't want to give anyone anymore reason to call him a delinquent.

He didn't stop walking until he was past the school gates, and once he had got that far, he broke into a run. At that point, not much thinking was happening. He just wanted to outrun everything. But eventually, fatigue overtook that need to run, and he slowed down, only now beginning to take in his surroundings. The buildings seemed vaguely familiar, but this part of town wasn't one he was familiar with, and it took him a moment of wandering back and forth and noting the different landmarks (including a café that was pretentiously-in his opinion-called Oceanfront and the widest alleyway he'd ever seen) to figure out where exactly he was. Once he had, he stopped and sat down on a bench, wondering where to go next as he watched the traffic.

School wasn't an option, not after that exit, and not as long as his classmates were being quite that crass. On the other hand, he didn't feel like going to the place he currently called home. But the hospital where Karasuma was staying wasn't too far of a walk.

 _I wish you could get us out of this mess, Karasuma-sensei._ Obviously, Tada knew this wasn't true, but maybe going to 'talk' to his godfather would help. Much to his shame, neither he nor Hiro had gone to visit him all that much once they'd been sucked into a vortex of studying. So, after a few moments of just sitting, that was where he headed.

 **…**

Having been cleared as next-of-kin in the first place, Tada hadn't expected trouble with getting to Karasuma, as such, but he _was_ surprised at nobody wondering why he wasn't in school, given that it was mid-morning pushing on afternoon. Still, he wasn't about to lose this chance. Carefully, he sat down on a chair that stood by Karasuma's bed and just stared at his hands for a moment, remembering all the other times he'd been in a hospital.

"Hey, Karasuma-sensei," He started off, hesitantly. "Sorry for not dropping by as much. School's been pretty hectic, what with the end of year exams and all. Also, Kunugigaoka. You remember what it would have been like, especially for Mum's class. But anyway, the exams are over and we got the results so that doesn't matter anymore.

"But I'm guessing you want to know how we did. The short of it is, I've managed to get myself into Class 3E, but Hiro will be in 3A, and on top of that, she was one of the top scorers in the year, That's pretty damn amazing, right? _She's_ amazing. And I'm a screw-up, even though I tried so hard not to be. Now I know, really know, why we weren't sent there, why Dad chose Riverside instead. Nobody would be discussing how a member of their class should…how they should…." Tada stopped, balled up his fists, gritted his teeth and tried not to get so angry.

" _No, no, I have a better idea! He should just get one of his new delinquent friends to drive him around and then crash the car in a tree or something! Get rid of two scumbags, make more space on this earth!"_

He wanted to blame his father for this, for dying on them and turning their worlds over when they'd barely managed to start putting it back together, for making him so sensitive to middle-school crassness. He wanted to blame Chika for her choice of school. But really, he knew this all rested on him, for not doing as well as he could have, for not putting in as much effort.

"Karasuma-sensei, do you know what the worst of it is?" he whispered when he managed to bring himself back down a little. "I really, really don't want to be in Class 3E. I'm not ashamed of it, not at all, but I wanted to do something about it, and how am I going to do that now? Already, I've been ostracised. Who's going to listen to me now? If I had managed to get into Hiro's class, or just generally a main-campus class, I'd have a better chance. But I threw it away." He really had, and that hurt a lot.

He opened his mouth to speak again when a nurse bustled in and began to check on Karasuma, barely acknowledging Tada's presence as he watched, almost trance-like, as she adjusted things and bustled around. All while machines bleeped quietly and Karasuma lay silently,oblivious. Tada wondered what his godfather and namesake was thinking of. If he had even heard anything he'd said.

"Alrighty then, everything seems good to me." The nurse told Tada, suddenly. _Good? Are you a bleeding idiot?_ He bit his lip in an effort to make sure his thoughts didn't get relayed verbally, but the cheery nurse seemed none the wiser as she smiled at him, made an adjustment to Karasuma's blanket, and then left. Once she had, Tada was able to breathe, and turned back to Karasuma, and started talking. More about school, and the situation he'd ended up in, but also about the friends he'd made, the crush Hiro seemed to have on Yukiyama, the big fight from a few weeks earlier, what it was like living with Chika, and anything he could think about. The sheer number of words he'd had inside him surprised him, but he made no effort to hide them, because it felt refreshing to be able to do so.

And more importantly, because he felt that regardless of if he could hear him or not, Karasuma was listening.

Eventually though, Tada felt his voice grow hoarse and his throat dry up, so he took that as a signal to go.

"Well…I'll be back sooner next time. And I guess I'll muddle through this, somehow. Bye, Karasuma-sensei." Looking at him, Tada managed a smile. Then, in a manner more relaxed when he had arrived at the hospital, he left the room. Despite all his running earlier, he decided to take the stairs back down, but this time he just meandered calmly, reflecting on how to deal with the year to come. It was bad luck, but he'd need to deal with it. And he would, he was sure of it.

Absently, he reached for his bag to get a snack from his lunchbox-only to realise he wasn't carrying his bag. Stopping dead on the stairwell, he blinked and tried to remember what had happened to his bag. And then he realised that it was still in his classroom, where he'd left it after storming out.

 _Crap. I stormed out of class, and ignored sensei. I'm in trouble, for sure._ Of course, he didn't have his phone, so there was no way of gauging how much trouble he was in. But he wasn't about to go back, not today. Even if he was calmer now, he wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with the jeering faces and words of his classmates. He definitely wouldn't be able to handle the contempt held by those he'd thought friends. He could just go straight home, but he didn't have his keys, and Chika wouldn't be home anyway.

Shaking his head at his hot-headed stupidity, he remembered the loose change he chucked into the cargo pockets of his school trousers from time to time, and was pleased to find some. Counting the coins, he quickly deduced that he had enough to buy something cheap to eat and make a couple of calls on a payphone. _So I'll do that. Food, payphone, wait for Hiro, home, explain everything to Aunt Chika, and see what happens. One step at a time._ Repeating the steps silently in his head, he started down the stairs again, and then ambled down to the ground floor before following signs that would lead him to the hospital canteen.

"Hey. You go to my school!" Tada stopped dead in the middle of the canteen at the surprised female voice, and turned to see a girl in a wheelchair watching him curiously. She was wearing a pretty purple baby-doll type dress (he only knew what type of dress it was because of Hiro) which matched the ribbons in her long, dirty-blond pigtails. The woman who stood behind the girl's wheelchair looked enough like her for Tada to assume that she was the girl's mother.

"I-I do?" he asked, fairly sure he'd never seen this girl before. The girl blinked a moment, and then smoothed the skirt of her dress.

"Sure. You go to Kunugigaoka, and so do I. Well, technically." She answered, her voice sounding somewhat muted to Tada's ears. Which didn't make sense because he could hear her perfectly well, but 'muted' was the impression he got, and so he gave her a closer look. _Maybe something happened to her. Something life-changing._

"Time off?" he enquired, his brain putting details together. Such as the fact they were in the middle of a hospital canteen, and she was using a wheelchair.

"I suppose you could say that. " She smiled slightly. "But first tell me, what's your name? What year group are you in?" the smile widened, and Tada smiled back.

"I'm Tada. Tadaomi Kitakawa. I'm in the second year, but I only transferred recently. About six weeks roundabout." A light went on in the girl's light brown eyes, and she bounced a little in her wheelchair.

"Cool, so we're in the same year! That's good to know. I've not been in school for a few months, you see. Gym accident, in a school competition no less. Anyway, I'm Fuyumi Yukimura. Pleased to meet you." She held out a hand, and Tada moved closer to shake it.

"So, you probably won't see me much at all for the last couple of weeks, although I'm going to try to come in, right, Mum?" Fuyumi briefly looked up at the woman, who nodded, before refocussing on Tada. "But next year you _really_ might not, because all my hospital appointments mean I've got too many absences on my records. I didn't even take the end-of-year exa-"

"Actually," Tada interrupted, "It sounds like we're going to be classmates next year." He waited for Fuyumi to process that. When she did, her jaw dropped open.

"Seriously? "

Tada shrugged a little sheepishly. "I flunked the exams you didn't attend." _And walked out of class._

This made Fuyumi laugh, a lot, and Tada understood why he'd thought of her as 'muted' just moments earlier.

"No wonder I thought you were familiar!" she exclaimed when she had calmed down.

"Erm…" even as he tried to formulate a response, he realised what Fuyumi had said didn't make a whole lot of sense. But since something else had occurred to him, he decided to let that go.

"Not to be blunt-well, actually, this is blunt, so sorry- but how are you going to deal with getting up to the 3E campus next year? It's up a hill and surrounded by forest, you know."

Fuyumi didn't seem offended, and instead considered his point. After a few moments, she gave up, and just shrugged.

"I could drop by, to yours on the first day. I'm not sure if I'd be able to carry you, but we could figure things out and at least you wouldn't need to deal with all this alone." Tada suggested. Then he looked at Fuyumi's mother cautiously.

"I…I don't know if you're okay with that or…" Now that he was thinking about it, he was wondering if maybe he had been a little bit presumptuous. They had only just met, after all. But Fuyumi's mother just nodded.

"It's nice of you, to offer to help. What do you think, Fuyumi?"

"I approve!" Fuyumi sang out in an off-key voice, giving him a thumbs-up. "Mum, write down our address for Tada-san!" the woman did, and then after he'd pocketed the paper, the two females insisted on buying him something to eat from the canteen. He tried to protest it, but gave up when Fuyumi somehow managed to figure out the reason he didn't have anything on him. So he gladly ate a baked potato with cheese while getting to know his soon-to-be classmate, before she went on to the appointment she was meant to have and he left the hospital.

 _If I recall correctly there's a payphone just around the corner…._ he recalled as he walked down the street, his steps lighter. And then he heard someone calling his name.

"Tada-san!"

After this was repeated a few times, he knew for sure that this wasn't a hallucination, and so he stopped in his tracks and turned around to see three students from his school walking towards him, and when they got closer, he saw that one was Akira. And she was carrying his schoolbag. The other two- a boy and a girl, were not students he recognised on first sight.

"Thank goodness." Akira said, calmly but with more liveliness than usual. "Hiro-san told us you'd probably end up near here. Here's your bag."

Tada blinked, and then took it. Instinctively, he opened it to see that he still had everything.

"You don't need to worry about that. Nothing has been tampered with." Tada turned his attention to the tall, very slim boy, whose dark green eyes looked at him seriously. He stuck his hands in his trouser pockets and stayed close to the other, much tinier girl. Tada nodded distractedly, but still looked through anyway, and it turned out that the boy was correct. _Well, there's a relief._ All his things were there, and intact.

"R-Reno's right." The other girl piped up hesitantly, playing with the striped red-and-orange scarf that was wrapped around her neck twofold and looking down at the ground shyly. She shivered a little, and then continued. "When Ueno-san handed it over to Kitakawa-san during the morning break, he said he'd made sure it wasn't tampered with. "

"I…sorry, what? "

"We-Miya-Chan and I, that is- are in your sister's class. We were there when Ueno-san came during the morning break and handed your bag to her. He told her that…you walked out of class because of some of the things the others were saying…" at that, Reno stopped his account and slanted a sideways look at him. When Tada didn't react, he took that as a signal to continue, and did so.

"Anyway, once you had, he stepped in and took possession of your bag. Reportedly some of the others wanted to mess with it, but he stated that technically, that could 'count as vandalism of school property, and that wouldn't make you any better than the scum of Class 3E'. So he handed your stuff over to your sister, but apparently she has a club on today, and you need your keys to get home or something. Kitakawa-Chan figured you'd come this way, and because she's friends with Miya-Chan, and we live near here, she trusted us to find you."

Tada listened carefully, trying to piece all the bits together. Although the approach had a lot of holes, he could see Hiro's logic shine through, and it somehow made him feel relieved that she'd managed to figure out where he'd end up, although he himself hadn't known at the time. Then there was the small matter of Ueno's role in the events. He had cut him dead in the results hall, hadn't talked to him or stood up for him in class….and yet he'd done this one thing to help him. _Even if he did use school rules to defend it._ Tada had no idea what to think, so he forcibly pushed the conundrum aside.

"Oh!" Tada turned suddenly to the scarf-clad girl, who had been nodding along to Reno's explanation and pointed dramatically at her. The sudden exclamation made her jump, her scarf fluttering briefly before settling.

"Sorry!" Tada apologised, hurriedly, letting his hand fall back to his side. "But I think…did we meet on the first day? At lunchtime, I came to see how Hiro was doing?" as he said the words, the picture formed in his head. Hiro, Aida, this girl, and one, or maybe two others. _How many was it?_ Briefly, he wondered if those others would also be his classmates next year.

The girl nodded. Her unique, gold-speckled eyes danced a little, and her lips curved upwards.

"R-Reimiya Kuroyama." She reintroduced herself. "That's Reno." Since she didn't provide a surname for the boy, Tada assumed that Reno and Reimiya were related in some way. His assumption was strengthened by the way Reno stayed next to Reimiya-close and protective, and almost scary with it. It didn't scare Tada though. Rather, it impressed him, and made him feel as if he knew Reno well.

"Okay, I'll remember that now. I guess there's no point introducing myself since clearly you guys know. " He said, once his brain had caught up. "Wait, hold on, Akira-Chan, where do you fit into this?"

"Micchan and I live on the same street. We walk to and from school together every day." _Of course_. Tada let out a laugh, and shook his head in amazement.

"Well, either way, thank you. " Tada effused.

"No problem, really. I hope we can get to be friends, too." Reimiya suggested hopefully, voice still tremulous. "We're going to be in the same class next year, after all. Right, Kiyomi-san?"

"That's right." Akira agreed. _You guys, too?_ Tada was torn between feeling sad for them, and being glad he would have other friends in his class. He turned to Reno, who had a grim expression at the mention of 3E. The expression seemed to be directed at Reimiya, but not in a way that suggested he was blaming her for anything. This intrigued him.

"What about you, Reno-kun?" he asked, trying to figure out the boy.

"Main campus." Reno said, shortly, sounding mightily pissed-off at the fact. "Miya-Chan, we'd better head on home. Mum'll be waiting." He placed a hand on Reimiya's shoulder, and she turned and smiled up at him. The look on her face made him think of Hiro again. He'd been selfish today, he really had. _When we're both home, I'll apologise, then find a way to make that apology stronger._

"Mhm!" she nodded, joyfully. "Then we'll go. Goodbye, Tada-san."

"See you tomorrow, Tada-san?" Akira asked. Tada nodded. He intended to come back to school tomorrow. _No more hiding_. He exchanged goodbyes with the three of them, and then headed home, checking his phone as he did so. There were various texts from his school friends, as well as some from people he knew outside of school. And many missed calls from his current home number, as well Chika's mobile. _Yup, I'm in trouble._

As he wasn't too far from home anyway, he decided not to answer the calls, and instead just went through the messages, replying or ignoring as appropriate. In many cases, he just didn't know what to say, so decided to save them for later. He was still doing this when he reached his front door, so he wasn't really paying attention when he unlocked the door one-handed.

"There you are!"

Tada jumped, nearly dropping his phone and keys. When he managed to grab at them, he looked up and saw Chika, still in the formal clothes she wore to work. Her expression, usually calm and relaxed, was hard and angry.

"Aunt Chika."

"Where have you _been_? I've been trying to call you- your principal called and said _you walked out of class_?! In the middle of a lesson?"

Tada's jaw fell to the floor, for no other reason than tiredness. Chika ran a hand through her hair and let out an exasperated groan.

"Let's sit down. I can't hold this conversation in the freaking doorway." She turned away and headed to the dining room, and after remembering to lock the door, Tada followed, and perched on a dining room chair. Chika sat down heavily opposite him, and gave him a hard glare. Tada just sat and waited, apprehensive, trying not to show it.

"Before you say anything. I'm also aware- since Mr Okikura was nice enough to inform me- that you somehow failed most of your end of year exams. I have no idea how that happened, and frankly I don't want to. I mean, for god's sake, I thought you were good at maths!"

Tada stayed stone-still, face impassive, mouth silent. _I thought I was good at maths, too_. Chika scrutinised his face, no doubt trying to read him. But it wasn't about to happen. Chika just shook her head, opened her mouth, and ranted.

"But anyway, that's hardly the point. Those grades, they're bad, but they're a one-off, right? And I'm fairly sure that what's happened over the past year or so, with Hinano-Chan and Mamoru and being uprooted…." Again, Chika ran her hands through her hair, before continuing. "All of that's bound to affect a person, so it's understandable that your standards slipped, so if you had just stayed in school as normal, and then told me about Class 3E when you came home, I could have arranged something. I could have called in, you know, and explained what the two of you are going through, and maybe you'd have to resit but at least you wouldn't be in Class 3E! But _no_ , you had to ignore a teacher's explicit instructions and leave the classroom, leaving your things behind so nobody can contact you. You just went AWOL! What the _hell_ were you thinking, Tadaomi? I can't talk you out of that. "

 _That I'd just been betrayed by my first friend at the actually-not-so-stupid school I didn't even want to go to in the first place. That until then, I thought that maybe, it wasn't so bad, that I'd be okay. That I was going to change things once I'd reached third year. That I'm just as disappointed in myself as you are, so will you please shut up?!_

When Chika's lips pursed and the lines in her face deepened, Tada belatedly realised that he'd said some of those thoughts out loud. He held out his hands, and tried to take his words back using other words, but he wasn't sure he was even speaking anymore. Chika just buried her face in her hands and let out an annoyed shout.

"Just go up to your room or something, Tada. I can't look at you right now. You've disappointed me."

Somehow, that single final sentence was worse than the rest of her rant.

Tada didn't wait for a second invitation, and ran upstairs to his room. Clearly, running was all he was able to do. He hated himself, in that moment. Doing his best to keep that anger under the surface, he emptied out his bag onto his bag, grabbed some casual clothes from his cupboard, and went to take a shower, which he put onto full heat in an effort to calm himself down. When he arrived back at his room, he just stood in the doorway, and stared for a moment.

 _I've messed things up. For both of us. How do I apologise to Hiro now?_ Stricken, his gaze hopped from his bed, to the items dumped on it, to his beside photos. Then it skipped to his bookshelf, wardrobe, desk, and drawing implements. Over and over, he scanned his room, not able to put his thoughts into sentences properly. Eventually, he crossed the room and went to his desk and grabbed at his sketchbook and pencils. Drawing had always put his mind at ease, especially during the times that he couldn't fight his way to peace.

He flicked through the sketchbook, wondering if he should just draw something random, or focus on his 'comic book' hero. In the end, it was no contest. He needed a comic book hero right now, even if he had yet to draw that hero in _actual_ comic strips. Finding the next blank page, he set the sketchbook down, and picked up a pencil. Then, he regarded the page, and gave himself a few moments to visualise the image he'd end up with, before setting pencil to paper and immersing himself in it. And just like that, the worries fell away, and all that he registered was the sounds of the pencil on the page and the picture he wanted to form.

About an hour later, he had the raw bones of his image, a hand that ached pleasantly, and a much calmer mind, so he decided to stop, and so he looked up. And saw Hiro at the door, watching, cautiously. She was in her nightdress with a cardigan thrown over, and her hair was wet, exposing her ears and revealing that her hearing aids were not in. She watched him, thoughtfully. Sorrowfully.

"Hiro…"

She took that as an invitation to enter, and did so. She leaned over his shoulder, and he put his pencil down.

"The Distant Ocean." She stated, thickly, referring to his character. He turned to face her, and nodded. He started to try and sign a fumbling apology, but she cut him off.

" _I'm going to be more honest from now on."_ Her hands moved briskly and furiously.

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Just what I said. I'm going to be more honest from now on."_ To emphasise her point, she pointed at her ears. And then Tada understood. Remembered how Hiro had been hiding her deafness from the students at Kunugigaoka all these times, even though she'd never hidden from anyone before, ever.

" _T-that's good, but what changed?"_

" _You did. "_ Hiro paused and bit her lip before continuing. _"I did. Everything did. Haru noticed anyway, and I trust Saito enough that I told him, too. Things like that. And…"_ Hiro hesitated, and Tada prompted her to continue.

" _Are you sure?"_

" _Yeah, of course, silly."_ If he hadn't been paying attention before, he was now. He waited, carefully watching his sister's face, which had become more haggard and weary, as if her thoughts were pulling at her. And all the while, she looked at him.

" _I think…our positions should have been swapped. Today shouldn't have happened to you."_

Tada just stared for a moment. Clearly, he was having a clueless day, because he had no idea what she was talking about. And then, all of a sudden, it hit him.

"Don't be silly!" he snapped, forgetting to sign. "You worked hard, you know. You earned your place in the top." Perhaps it was a weird twist of fate that these outcomes had occurred when he had been the one to throw himself into the deep end, whereas she'd just stayed apart from it all, but he had never questioned it. He'd just been annoyed at himself.

" _But…"_ Hiro's hands wavered, and her eyes glistened. But no tears fell. They weren't likely to, but all the same, Tada winced. He wasn't doing a good job of making things better.

" _Sorry. Just… don't think this is your fault. It's all on me, okay?"_ He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Hiro gave a watery one back, and then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Then, she took a closer look at the drawing of The Distant Ocean. Frowning, she wandered over to the other side of the desk, as if needing to see the drawing from another angle. After doing this for a while, she rested her gaze on him again.

"Hey, Tada…" she mused. "Do you ever think that The Distant Ocean needs a sidekick?"

"Eh?" He looked at his drawing, at how The Distant Ocean looked over his shoulder, hair whipping around his face, eyes as wet as Hiro's had been moments ago.

"I mean, he can't do everything from so far away. Surely he needs….an ambassador of sorts. Someone who _is_ involved in that world, you know?" There was a hidden layer in her tone of voice, and Tada tilted his head at her. In return, she stared him down. Whatever it was they were really talking about, it wasn't just about a comic-book hero's story. Tada shrugged, and began to form a response, when Chika darkened his doorway. Both siblings turned to her, and Tada felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. All the same, he sat up a little straighter to look her in the eye, to try and at least plead his case. But Chika didn't rant. Instead, she just sighed and observed the two of them.

"I had a feeling the two of you'd congregate. And you're drawing. Fitting. " Chika had changed into casual clothes, and now instead of being stiff and irate, she looked limp and exhausted.

"Aunt Chika." Instantly, Tada's brain went into overdrive, trying to find suitably remorseful words, or anything that could smooth over the hurt she'd hurled at him. But Chika just shook her head and sighed again, more deeply this time.

"Come with me for a moment, Tada. Hiro, you can come too. " she walked away, and Tada got up and followed. Hiro pitter-pattered behind, and they were soon in Chika's home office, the place where she dealt with paperwork, emails and the occasional meeting. It just looked like a typical adult's office, and the only thing that marked it out as different were the certificates and photographs on the wall, the music player on the desk, and the guitar lounging in a corner.

"This, do you recognise it?" Chika pointed to a glass-fronted display. Photographs of Chika with various bands she'd worked with were displayed, as well as various news articles that happened to mention her name. There were also children's drawings. Most of them recent and from Chiyo's children, but some that he and Hiro had drawn years ago. The particular drawing that Chika was pointing to was one of his. It was in crayon, and a lot less skilled than his drawings in the present, but quite clearly (to his eyes) portraying The Distant Ocean.

He suddenly had a vivid memory of being six and sprawled on Chika's living room carpet and trying to capture the image of a superhero who did his superhero-ly deeds from afar. _Where's Aunt Chika going with this?_

"You remember that, don't you? I'm sure you do, you're always drawing her. The Eternal Sky, or something?"

"The Distant Ocean." Tada and Hiro corrected, in unison, neither of them able to prevent grins stealing across their faces. Chika rolled her eyes and wagged a finger at them.

"Don't be getting all cheeky on me. The Distant Ocean, then. I definitely remember bits of the story though. Mostly because it was so dark, and complex, especially when coming from a six year old. But yeah, I think I'm a bit like your Distant Ocean."

"One of Karasuma-sensei's bed-time stories." Tada explained, remaining baffled.

As young children, when Tada and Hiro were put to bed, the stories they were told differed depending on who was putting them to bed. Their father had read to them from a wide range of children's books. Their mother had told them about funny and interesting things that had happened to her, or various facts about different living creatures. And Karasuma had made up fantastical, magical stories on the spot, seemingly pulling out entire worlds from his mind and building them with the spoken word. And of these many wonderful stories, the one that Tada enjoyed the most was about a lonely hero that he'd eventually dubbed 'The Distant Ocean'. The same character he continued to draw to this day.

Remembering the stories made him go fuzzy in a good way, but right now he was more interested in why his aunt was comparing herself to a story he didn't even think she'd remember.

"Why do you say that, Aunt Chika?" Hiro enquired before Tada could do the same. Chika turned and gave a sheepish grin that took both of them aback.

"Because before, you'd all come here for Christmas, I came over to your house sometimes, and occasionally, I'd take the two of you out for treats, same way I do with my other nephews and nieces. I babysat on the rare occasions that all the other childcare options your parents had fell through. I like you, you like me, we all get on, and it wasn't any more complicated than that. Because the everyday stuff, the intimate stuff, all the hands-on, nitty gritty that made me decide not to have kids of my own and whatever- that was left to your parents, and your godfather. I was just in the background, but that suited me fine, because we were still family, anyway.

But now, now it's different. Both Mamoru and Hinano-Chan are gone, and Karasuma-san should have been the one to step up but he can't because he was put into hospital by my little brother. So I couldn't stay on the side-lines anymore, and because you guys are family and need me, I don't resent that. But it was being in the background that I was good at- I have no clue how to do the hands-on, nitty gritty stuff that. "

Chika stopped, and rubbed roughly at her face for a moment. Eyes red, she ran her hands through her hair, this time making little strands randomly stand up on end. Then, she turned and put both her hands on Tada's shoulders, and leaned in so that he couldn't turn away from her chocolate eyes.

"I'm still pretty pissed that you caused so much trouble, but I figure that you don't do things like that for the sake of it, so we'll have a proper talk about that later. And some of the things I said to you earlier, I shouldn't have. But for now-Class 3E or not, we're family, and we're going to be in this together for the long haul. Okay? I just need to figure this business out first."

"I…" Tada stuttered, and found himself incredibly touched, and wasn't sure what to say. "Sure thing, Aunt Chika." He smiled hesitantly, and then found himself grinning. _Looks like things will be okay now._

She nodded at him and straightened, and looked over at Hiro, who was watching them and blinking, having been unable to hear or lip-read what Tada had said.

" _I'll tell you later."_ Tada signed, smiling. Hiro gave him a thumbs-up and grinned. Noticing, Chika also beamed at them.

"And I'll be making sure I learn sign language properly." She announced to Hiro. In response, Hiro made a sign carefully and slowly, then tilted her head at Chika.

"That was the sign for 'thank you'." Hiro said serenely. Chika attempted to sign back at Hiro, but messed it up spectacularly. She barked out a laugh, recognising that she hadn't got it, and grabbed both twins in a bear hug. The pencil that had been resting between Tada's fingers, unknown, fell to the floor, and soon all three of them were giggling, standing in the middle of Chika's home office.

"Oh, by the way, Aunt Chika." Tada remembered suddenly. "The Distant Ocean is a guy, not a girl."

"Oi, cheeky! How would I be expected to remember something like that?!"

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Reimiya Kuroyama (Belongs to: Littlegrazygirl)  
Reno Kuroyama (Belongs to: Littlegrazygirl)  
Fuyumi Yukimura (Belongs to:Mugipyon)**

 **Please leave feedback! :-)**


	7. Beginning of the End, part 1

**And here we have it, the chapters that will detail the first day in 3E. I say chapters because as it turns out, it will need to be in two parts (of course, you may have figured this out from the 'part 1' in the chapter title, lol). Unfortunately, this also means the introductions are distributed rather unevenly...sorry about that =P**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter!**

When Tada arrived at Fuyumi's house only to find another girl at the door waiting there with the same purpose as him, things almost got awkward. She was sceptical as to his true intentions, because they'd never met, and so to her, Tada was just some random boy. Luckily, Hiro was there, which made his presence seem less awkward. Soon, they were able to chat civilly, and when Fuyumi was ready, she confirmed to the other girl-Jori- that Tada was honourable. And that was all that was needed to tip their interactions from civil to friendly.

As it turned out, both Fuyumi and Jori had been on the school gymnastics team together. None of their other teammates had been unfortunate enough to get into Class 3E, and so out of some sense of solidarity, the two of them had teamed together. Tada could understand the sentiment, and did so all too well.

After commiserating about their 3E woes, they became silent, the only sounds being those of their own footsteps and Fuyumi's wheelchair. Then, suddenly, Jori ground to a halt and spun around to stare at Tada, her reddish-brown curls whipping her face.

"Jori-san, what is it?" Fuyumi asked, readjusting one of the ribbons in her hair as she did so. Jori just stared at Tada, her wide eyes becoming wider behind her round glasses.

"You!" she declared, as if just realising something. "Weren't you the guy who walked out of class on Results Day?"

"Er….." Tada sweat-dropped. He couldn't quite believe that the story was _still_ following him around. He wondered if that was how he was going to be defined for the rest of the year. He exchanged a glance with Hiro, and the two of them shrugged simultaneously. Then Hiro spoke up.

"Does it really matter?"

Jori gave her a look, and then shrugged. She tucked a strand of her reddish-brown curly hair behind her ears.

"Guess not. I just heard the story from my friend, who heard it from someone else…you know how it goes."

"Yeah, I suppose," Tada laughed sheepishly. "It's actually quite embarrassing though…"

"Then, we won't mention it again, Tada-san. Right, Jori-san?" Fuyumi suggested reasonably. Again, Jori shrugged, and they began moving again, and talked of other things.

While Fuyumi was telling them a story from her time in the gymnastics team, Tada felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked at Hiro.

" _Some of my classmates are up ahead. Can I leave you here?"_ She signed.

" _Sure thing."_

" _Cool, okay? Do you want me to meet you after school?"_

" _You don't need to. But if you want, sure."_

Hiro nodded at that, and after waving goodbye to them all, she ran ahead, joining a small group of girls who were some distance ahead of them. Fuyumi and Jori stared.

"She's speedy." Jori commented. Tada found himself breathing a sigh of relief. That had been the very first time Hiro had signed openly around other students, and although he'd been very convincing in telling her that it would be fine to do so, he found himself very much relieved that they hadn't been met with any reaction.

"That she is." Tada agreed neutrally.

"It's nice that you're still close, even though you're in opposite ends of the school food chain. " Fuyumi said.

"We're siblings…" Tada pointed out, finding Fuyumi's comment odd. Jori seemed to, as well, because she protested indignantly.

"Well, they're family, aren't they? Family trumps school!"

Fuyumi tilted her head and considered this.

"I guess I have to concede that." She agreed, eventually. She smiled first at Jori, and then at Tada.

"Now," she said. "Jori-san, what part of the story was I up to before Hiro-san left?"

 **…**

When they got to the hall where the entrance ceremony was taking place, Jori and Fuyumi chose a seat at the back, for obvious reasons. Tada thought of sitting with them, but then spotted Tsukuda with Akira, Reimiya and Reno a few rows up. Seeming to realise that Tada had spotted friends, Fuyumi persuaded him to go and sit there instead, and once he'd made her promise she'd wait so he could help her up the hill to their building, he went to sit with them. As he did so, he brushed past Aida.

Both of them flinched. Since Haru and Tsukuda's big fight, Tada had followed Hiro's lead and not talked to Aida. Now, they stared each other down, until Aida gave up , cut her eyes away and scurried off, muttering under her breath. Predictably, most of what she muttered was about his E-Class status. Tada just rolled his eyes, and went and sat down in the empty seat between Reno and Tsukuda.

"In a way, not having the seats separated by class is a disadvantage here." Reno coolly commented by way of greeting, having observed the short exchange. Tada nodded.

"I guess, but this is an entrance ceremony as opposed to any class assembly, so it's not like it matters, right?"

"That's right." Akira quietly added, peering around Reimiya and Reno. "The underclassmen know their class names, but aren't familiar with their classes, so it would be pointless."

"Mhm, I guess so." Tada turned around and observed the students milling around, either finding seats or waving others over to their own seats. It looked like a normal entrance ceremony. He could see Ruko with Ayako, Kinomoto and Haru heading towards the opposite end of the hall, while Azama lounged in a seat, looking just as nonchalant as always as he half-engaged in a conversation with some second-year students. Yukiyama sat alone, his posture arranged to deflect the world. He saw faces of others he knew, others who weren't in 3E, and as predicted, they ignored him, or gave him a dirty look. It was a small blessing to him that out of all the familiar faces he'd spotted, he had yet to see Ueno's.

When the steady stream of students became a mere trickle, Tada turned back to face the stage. Principal Okikura had also arrived, and was standing at the podium patiently, observing his students with a neutral expression. Or what was meant to be a neutral expression. To Tada, it looked just a little bit smug.

"The principal always does that." Tsukuda whispered. "I remember being a shiny fresh first year- it scared the hell out of me. But now I just think he does it to remind himself of his sense of entitlement."

"That makes sense. He's just a slime-ball." When Tsukuda let out a laugh, Tada realised that he'd said the last sentence aloud, and momentarily buried his face in his hands, which just made Tsukuda laugh even more. But they didn't take long to calm down, as the hall fell silent and Principal Okikura cleared his throat. To Tada's surprise, he didn't say anything special. And he didn't single out Class 3E as an object of ridicule. He just said normal, generic things about the start of the year and working hard, mixed in with a few reminders about school rules. He introduced all the teachers, and Tada studied all of them, wondering who would be the homeroom teacher of Class 3E. The youngish man with electric-shocked hair, the lady who looked more like somebody's grandmother than a middle school teacher, the old guy with the walking stick, or the woman wearing too much make-up? Since they were only introduced by name, and occasionally speciality subject, there was no way to tell. _Is that a blessing, or a curse?_

"And now, before the speech from our highest-achieving new student, I will pass you on to the president of our wonderful Student Council –Takeru Hasegawa."

A tall boy with incredibly chiselled features and perfect school uniform strode to the stage. More than a few female students gasped or tittered at the sight. Tada could feel Reno stiffen, and he turned his head slightly to see that his fists were clenched and his jaw set harshly. That's when Tada remembered that Reno'd had a fight with Hasegawa, a few days after Tada's 'AWOL incident'. Something about Hasegawa's little sister- who had been in the first year at the time-doing something to Reimiya. The fight had been bad enough for Reno to get excluded for the remainder of second year, which Tada secretly suspected to have been one of Reno's aims in instigating the fight.

 _Oh, boy._

"Welcome to Kunugigaoka Junior High School." Hasegawa proclaimed. "If you are just beginning your journey here, then there are a few things that I must tell you. Firstly, may I congratulate you for getting in. As you know, we pride ourselves on the very highest standards in both academics and aspirations, so to get in to here, I am sure that you have those high standards, and you should be proud of yourself. Even if I do not yet know any of you by face or name, I myself am very proud of you for getting this far. Truly, you have done well for yourselves. But just because you have got in here, it doesn't mean you can lapse. Oh, no. In order to get anywhere in life, you must always work hard, and here in Kunugigaoka we will help you do just that- unless, of course, you reach third year and end up in the End Class!"

A laugh rippled across the room, and Tada felt as though he would shrink in his seat. _Here it is. Here is where it begins._

"If you're beginning your first year here, then you might not know about the End Class. If you are lucky-that is to say, if you work-, you will spend your entire three years here without ever needing to interact with that class. All you'll ever know is that they are the failing class that spend their days on the old campus, while you get to enjoy our wonderful facilities, which get better every year. But if you lapse, or it turns out you do not have the standards this school aspires to after all, then you will end up there after all. And the 3E, the End Class, is called that for a reason. Unfortunately, because this is an Entrance Ceremony, you aren't seated by class, or I'd point them out to you and show you just how pitiful and pointless they all are. However, since I can't do that today, I'll give them some mercy and not do that. It's the best they'll get this year, after all.

But enough about them. Let me tell you about what you have to look forward to this year."

Yet another ripple of laughter filled the room, and Tada saw red. _I know how the system works, but how is he getting away with saying such things?_ His fists curled up, and he looked to either side of him to see how the others had reacted. Tsukuda also looked angry, as if gearing up for a fight, but her hands shook as she pressed them firmly in her lap. Reno's posture was much the same as it had been when Hasegawa had been announced, but one of his hands had uncurled to comfortingly pat Reimiya's head. And Reimiya looked like she needed that comfort, as she'd gone pale and was hunched over, trying to hide in her scarf. As for Akira, she…

…was also hunched over, but only because she was busy scribbling away in her notebook. _For real?_ Tada allowed himself a small, small smile at that. He really liked how Akira could just carry on as if it meant nothing to her. Hasegawa's words weren't enough to shame her out of who she was. It was really quite a sight, and it made Tada feel better.

 _So I won't let it shame me, either._ He let his hands and back relax, and took a few deep breaths in to calm down. Then, he sat up straight to look at Hasegawa straight on. As Hasegawa talked about the school rules and the wonderful aspects of being a class representative, he noticed Tada, and tipped his head slightly as if to acknowledge him. Hasegawa didn't miss a beat, and his smile didn't move an inch, but the edges of his expression became just that much colder, and Tada knew in that instant that he'd made an enemy.

 _Oh well. It's not like we'll see each other all that much._ And with that thought, he settled back and listened to the rest of the ceremony. Once it had finished, he made a beeline to Fuyumi and Jori.

"Hana! HANA!"

For some reason, the shouting got through to Tada, catching his attention. He didn't know why that sound had, of all the sounds in the room, but it did, and so he stopped and turned. The source of the yelling came from a short girl with shoulder-length dark hair, her long bangs held back by more hairclips than Tada thought was physically possible. Her unbuttoned blazer flapped as she sprinted purposefully towards the same door Tada was making his way to, clutching a bento box wrapped up neatly in a purple napkin. The girl she was yelling at- _Hana-Chan, presumably_ \- had already been at the door, but had paused and turned at the sound of her name.

"Asami?" Hana's brown eyes blinked, looking somewhat lost. "You don't go this way. Won't you be late?"

She used a hand to tuck back a strand of her black hair that had come loose from her messy bun. That's when Tada realised that the blazer Hana was hunched under was much too big on her. And not only that, it was a boy's blazer. There was something so poignant about the sight that although he could have just continued past them at that point, he couldn't. Not just yet.

Asami stopped a good few feet away from Hana and held out the box as far as her arm would allow it. She wore an exasperated expression on her face, which only served to emphasise the tone of her voice when she next spoke.

"You forgot your lunchbox. I've been carrying it all this time!"

"Oh, did I?" Hana asked, sounding patiently bemused. Asami groaned, and shook the bento box slightly. Hana stepped forward a few steps, then paused, and then moved again before she was close enough to take the box. But instead of taking the box, she just closed her hands around it, and gazed at Asami.

"W-what?" Asami spluttered, shifting from foot to foot. "Is there something you need?" Asami let go of the box and tucked her hand in her pocket, while Hana tightened her grip on the bento box. The air surrounding them and between them was crammed with tension, and some awkwardness as the two girls just stared at each other. Asami looked annoyed, while Hana just looked dreamy.

"Seriosuly, Hana! You yourself said I'd be late! Don't you think that applies to you, too?" Asami rolled her eyes, looking as if she just wanted to run away. And yet she didn't. But at the same time, she didn't go any closer. Watching the two facing each other, Tada noted how they were similar, despite their differences- they had the same arrangement of facial features despite different expressions, the same eye and hair colour even though their hairstyles were different, and they reached the same height when their wildly varying postures were discounted….

 _Oh, wait._ Hana and Asami were sisters. _Sisters_. They had to be. And judging by a million other things, it seemed like this year would not be one they'd spend together.

" _It's nice that you're still close, even though you're in opposite ends of the school food chain. " Fuyumi said._

" _We're siblings…" Tada pointed out, finding Fuyumi's comment odd._

Tada sighed sadly. Perhaps Fuyumi's observation hadn't been so weird after all. And maybe Jori had been wrong-in some cases, maybe family wasn't enough to trump school. Not if that school was Kunugigaoka, that was for sure. And with that saddening realisation, Tada watched with bated breath to see what Hana would say to Asami.

"Nothing." Hana eventually spoke up, wistfully. "Just….have a good day, Asami-Chan. Enjoy yourself."

Asami's eyes widened. Clearly, those words were not what she'd been expecting, and she seemed to flounder, unsure of what to do or say. But it wasn't long before her exasperation softened into something more akin to fondness. She smiled.

"Thanks, Hana." She nodded, and began to turn away, before stopping and throwing one last sentence over her shoulder.

"You have a good day, too, okay?" The way in which the syllables in those words faltered as if stuck in Asami's throat was half-concealed by the speed at which she spoke. And as if to emphasise that, before Hana could answer her, Asami was off, running to her main-campus classmates and her main campus life, while Hana headed for the hills.

 _Speaking of which, I should make a move_. Tada said to himself, remembering Fuyumi. By the time he had managed to get to where Fuyumi and Jori had been sitting, they'd already moved to the school gates, ready to go up the hill to their campus. And they'd been joined by another student.

"Well, you took your time, Tada-san!" Jori glared down at him, hands on her hips. "What took you so long?"

"Erm…." Tada shrugged, embarrassed.

"Ah, you're Tada-kun, then!" the other student smiled, diverting attention. His bright blue eyes sparkling underneath his short and spiky brown afro. His uniform was worn about as casually as it was possible for the uniform to be, and his build seemed somewhat tough.

"Yeah, I am. And you are?" Tada held out a hand for the boy to shake. The boy grinned and grasped his hand with a grip that surprised Tada with its strength.

"Koujiro Tobe. Some call me Inazuma. But you can call me whatever you want, really, since we're classmates and all. Pleased to meet you!"

"Likewise, Tobe-kun."

"Now, Kasai-Chan and Yukimura-Chan and I were debating about how exactly we should get up the hill. Whatcha think?"

Tada studied Fuyumi's wheelchair.

"Fuyumi-Chan, is your wheelchair foldable?"

"No…why?"

"Because surely the easiest way to do this is if somebody carries you and someone else carries the wheelchair separately while we're going up the hill…" Tada trailed off, wondering if this was another case where he was putting his foot in his mouth. But the three others just looked thoughtful.

"I'm fine with that." Fuyumi said eventually "But I don't want to put any of you out…"

Jori gave Fuyumi a _look_. "Fuyumi-san, really? You don't think I can handle a piggy-back up a hill?"

Tada supposed Jori had a point. The girl was tall, and was clearly athletic. That, and she had been on the gymnastics team, as Fuyumi knew all too well, as she smiled at Jori's mock-outrage.

"Sure you can. So, Tada-san, Koujiro-san, would you both be okay with carrying my things and my wheelchair?"

"Of course!" Koujiro agreed. "We'd better hurry though."

Jori went in front of Fuyumi, and knelt with her back to her. Together, Tada and Koujiro helped Fuyumi out of her wheelchair, and helped her cling to Jori, who grasped her tightly and then stood up.

"Well, let's go then!"

Tada and Koujiro followed Jori and Fuyumi up the hill, and they walked together in a somewhat contemplative silence. Their classmates walked past them at varying speeds, and while some stared, others stopped and asked what was going on, with some offering to help, but Koujiro cheerfully declared that they'd be fine, and Jori insisted that they just go on ahead. Of course, most of their fellow classmates were perfectly happy to do just that, but Ayako, Hanae and Hana decided to lag behind and walk with them, Ayako in particular clearly seeing that as an opportunity to find out every last detail about her new classmates. But as it turned out, they _were_ perfectly able to cope, somehow managing to get up the hill without feeling too tired (or at least, without feeling more tired than they would have just from walking up there normally).

As they got closer, the building in which they'd all be spending that year came into focus. Wooden, one storey, and somewhat reminiscent of an old-fashioned school building, it was an old building, one that had clearly been extensively repaired recently. Surrounded by grassy grounds, with the forests not too far away in the background, and the mountains looming behind the building, the image of the 3E's campus was all too familiar to Tada. As he put down his end of the wheelchair, and then picked up Fuyumi's bags so that Jori could let her back down, he stared at the building as if in a trance. Once he had managed to give Fuyumi's things back to her, he left them and went towards the building, going deeper into the trance.

" _Is that all of you? Absolutely all of you?" Tada asked._

 _Seven year old Tada sat on his mother's left knee, while Hiro sat on her right knee. Their mother smiled down at both of them as she gripped the heavy album with both hands._

 _Neither of them were actually allowed to hold the album because of how it was old and heavy, but they were allowed to point at things in the photos, or use their fingers to follow the words in the captions when reading them, so it wasn't a big deal._

 _That, and this way, it was like she was creating a special cosy circle around them, and just for them only. Both Tada and Hiro liked that._

" _That's right, that's everyone who was in my class. All of my friends!"_

 _Hiro's jaw dropped open, and she began to immediately count the faces in the decided to do the same a few moments later, and they soon reached the answer._

" _Twenty-seven!" they both said, almost in unison, but not quite._

" _But Mama, that's A LOT of friends!" Hiro protested. Their mother giggled at their astonishment._

" _I know, that_ is _a lot. I was very lucky." She fell silent for a moment, considering. "Oooh, I know? Would the two of you like to play a game?"_

" _What sort of game, Mama?" Tada asked._

" _To see how many of the people in this photograph you can recognise? What do you think of that?"_

" _I want to do that!" Tada declared. Hiro nodded as if saying she wanted to, too. Their mother giggled again, and then they began the 'game'._

In his mind, the memory of a photograph in the last page of a photo album formed. That memory made the building a little cleaner, a little less shabby, and a little less old, and he found himself superimposing the image of twenty-seven fourteen and fifteen year olds, all gathered around the building, all posing for the camera and grinning despite the clear exhaustion on their faces. Some were sitting on the steps leading to the building entrance, but most stood or knelt either side of those steps. The younger version of his mother had been on the left side of that photograph, he recalled, grinning so hard her eyes were squeezed shut, all while she linked arms with Rio and her other friend, Touka. Hit with a wave of grief, he tore his eyes away from that side of the building and made himself observe the rest of it.

 _That cherry tree wasn't there before._ Tada noted with some shock, looking at the place where a tall, thin featured boy had posed for a final class photograph thirty years ago. _When did that get there?_

"When did what get where?" Ayako's curious voice made him jump, making him realise his last thought had been spoken aloud.

"No, nothing." With an effort, he managed to wrench himself back into the present day. "What's going on there, Ayako-Chan?"

Tada pointed to the cherry tree he didn't remember, where Haru, Kinomoto and another boy were all gathered around the trunk and looking up. Ayako glanced over at the tree, and shrugged, grinning.

"Oh, I think somebody's stuck up that tree." Ayako answered, casually. With that, she turned and headed into the building, soon followed by two girls he didn't recognise, as well as Ruko, Kitabayashi and Azama. Tada sauntered up to Kinomoto and tapped him on the shoulder. Kinomoto turned and smiled.

"Good morning, Tada-san."

"Hey, Kinomoto-kun," Tada greeted. "What's going on?"

"Yamada-kun is having trouble getting down from that tree."

The other boy, whose light green eyes were a similar shade to Tada's, stated this matter-of-factly, gestured at the expanse of pale blossoms decorating the tree. And sure enough, there was a short-statured girl up in the tree, limbs wrapped around a very high branch. Her glasses were slightly askew on her face, which betrayed no emotion whatsoever as she stared down at all of them.

"W-what do I do now?" Tremulous, her voice betrayed her as she clung just a little harder.

"You need to put your legs down on the branch below you." The other boy said calmly.

"Don't look down, just feel for it." Kinomoto added. "You can still hold on to that branch with your arms though."

"You'll be fine, Yamada-san." Haru reassured. "Right, Tsuwabuki-san?" she asked of the other boy.

"Yes, of course." Tsuwabuki said.

"O-okay." As more instructions were fired at her, Yamada cautiously followed them, gradually getting lower and lower. Tada watched them, wondering if he should say something too. He eventually decided not to, as Kinomoto and the others seemed to have it under control, managing to get Yamada out of the tree even though it became patiently clear that it was a miracle she'd managed to get up the tree in the first place.

"Say, Yamada-Chan." Tada inquired once she was on the ground and dusting cherry blossoms off herself. "Why did you want to climb up the tree in the first place?"

"I was looking at the moon." She said as if it was obvious. "I wanted to see it more clearly."

Sure enough, when Tada looked up, the moon was out, thin and sharp against the blue sky. It was pretty. Not special by any means, but a nice sight all the same.

"So….you like the moon then?"

"I'm very interested in it." Yamada asserted. Then, she looked down at herself.

"Why am I all messy?" She asked in a very confused voice, continuing to brush cherry blossom and bits of bark off her. Then, a few moments later, she returned to looking up at the moon, this time from the safety of the ground.

"Erm….." Tada didn't know whether to laugh or to just hide behind the cherry blossom tree and never come out. He opted for the better option- to go straight into class. _That way_ , he reasoned, _perhaps I can fend off any potential weirdnesses_.

Unfortunately for him, that idea was disproved pretty quickly as he collided into Ruko in the doorway to the classroom. She had her back to him, and was staring at something in the room, entranced. From her posture, Tada could tell she was holding her camera, ready to capture something.

"Ouch! What the hell is your problem?" the words didn't come from Tada, and he turned to see a boy of about his height, with soft-but-spiky black hair and a scowling expression.

"It wasn't my fault, Hirigi-kun." Tada held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. Hirigi's scowl deepened, and he pushed past both of them. Ruko didn't protest at all, continuing to just stare straight ahead.

"Ruko-Chan, what's wrong?"

"I think I found the OTP of this class…." Ruko's voice was dreamy, almost slurring, and when she looked over at Tada she was all but drooling. "Look…"

Easing past her, Tada obliged, looking around the classroom. Reno and Reimiya were helping Jori, Koujiro and another girl rearrange tables, most of which seemed to be stacked up randomly, while Fuyumi observed, her wheelchair parked at the front of the classroom. Kitabayashi and Akira were both sitting down and writing at desks that had been put into place- Akira in a seat near the windows, Kitabayashi at the back. Yamada had snuck in at some point, having chosen another window seat- perfect for looking up at the moon. Hirigi had also sat down at a desk, but he didn't seem to be doing anything in particular. But the focus of Ruko's adoring attention happened to be two boys who were at another arranged desk.

One of the boys, skinny in an almost feral way, was actually sitting on the desk, feet on the chair. Rather than the typical school shirt-and-blazer combination, he wore a grey dress shirt and a black hoodie, which oddly went well with his short spiky dark hair and red eyes. The red-haired, colder featured boy standing in front him also had red eyes, as well as a unique interpretation of the school uniform, having opted to pair the school tie with a black shirt with rolled up sleeves. This boy had a commanding presence, almost intimidatingly so, but he was clearly engaged in conversation with the other boy, and vice versa. Their voices were quiet, too quiet to make out what either was saying.

"You see it, right? Do you see it?" Ruko whispered, having left the doorway. Tada just shrugged. He could sort of see where Ruko was coming from, but he didn't exactly want to agree with her either. Naturally however, Ruko wasn't deterred by his ambivalence, and just stepped forward again, beginning to take photographs rapidly, darting around the desk the two boys were at to get all angles while the classroom rearranging went on around them all.

"What are you doing?"

Ruko froze. The red-haired boy had darted out a hand, unexpectedly, covering the lens of Ruko's camera.

"C-capturing your romance, of course!" Ruko laughed hesitantly, composure shaken. Tada didn't blame her- the boy's gaze was very scary. He himself was quaking in his shoes as he watched to see how this unfolded.

"Romance? " The redhead repeated, sceptically. The other boy rested his chin in his hands and grinned, catlike, as he watched the two of them.

"Y-yeah, y-your romance." Ruko said. "I-I-I mean, how c-could I not want to capture every last second for prosperity…." She trailed off, as she was met with increasingly scary looks. The redhead's grip on the camera lens tightened, slightly.

"HEY, don't break it!" Ruko squealed.

"Eh, whyyy nott….?" The boy on the desk drawled, seemingly continuing to find the entire scene amusing. Ruko squirmed, unable to move from fear of breaking her precious camera. _Enough is enough._ Tada stepped forward, ready to defend his friend when a distraction came from an unexpected place.

"Izzy! Is that you?" Tsukuda's voice called out. Moments later, she appeared by Tada's side, Hana close by. Clearly, Tsukuda had taken Hana under her wing at some point, which pleased Tada inordinately.

"Er….have I met you?" the black-haired boy asked, no longer grinning. Tsukuda shrugged sheepishly.

"No, but you were always hanging around with Tsugaru from my fourth-grade class …."

"You attended my school? You knew Tsugaru?" The boy regarded her with interest.

Tsukuda shrugged again, less sheepish this time, more wistful.

"Meh, I guess. I'd only been in the class a few months when he moved away though- to Canada, , wasn't it? I remember that because a week later, it was my turn to transfer away. Do you keep in touch?"

The boy shook his head. Tsukuda winced sympathetically. Tada regarded his vigilante-like friend curiously. _Hanae-Chan moved around a lot? I wonder why. What must that have been like for her….?_

"That's too bad. But anyway, I only know you as Izzy. But since I'm guessing that's a nickname, you may as well tell me your full name, and we can get off to a better start. I'm Hanae Tsukuda. And you are?"

"Izaya Arisato. But you all may as well call me Izzy. I don't mind. You can too, Sei-Chan." Izzy reasoned, addressing the redhead, who was still scaring Ruko. Hanae noticed what he was doing and in a single move was busy peeling his hands off the camera.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?! How dare you victimise Kuruko?!" she demanded, fired up and glaring. "Just what sort of person are you? Let her be!"

Unexpectedly, the redhead laughed, head tipping back. He let go of the camera, and Ruko scurried to where Fuyumi was, clinging to the camera and stroking it as though it was some sort of fluffy animal. She gazed at them all with an impressive pout. Tada, Hana and Hanae all stared at the boy as he laughed. When he composed himself, he regarded them all with a steady look that wasn't as fear-inducing as before, but was still enough to make them all stiffen.

"Well, it looks like we have some real characters here." He declared. "I might find this interesting. But I'm not nearly as magnanimous as Izzy here, so I would prefer it if you just called me by my surname. Maybe later, if I deem you worthy, we can move on to first names."

 _What the hell?_ Hanae expressed the same sentiments aloud, earning another amused smirk from both boys.

"Erm…the only trouble with that is that you haven't told us your name. We only know Izzy-kun's."

It was the first time Tada had dared to speak to the boy, and he almost flinched when two pairs of red eyes stared at him, boring into his mind.

"You have a point there." The redhead decreed eventually. "I'm Seijuro Kuroba."

"Tadaomi Kitakawa. But just call me Tada." Tada replied instantly and instinctively, holding out a hand for Kuroba to shake. "Pleased to meet you, Kuroba-kun."

Nodding slowly, Kuroba took that hand and shook it. He didn't acknowledge Tada's 'pleased to meet you' verbally, but after that little moment of chaos, Tada really didn't mind. Grateful that it was over, Tada scanned the desks available, and he chose one nearest to the door, hanging his bag on the side of it and arranging his things accordingly. After that, nothing of much note happened as the rest of the class gradually filed in, chatting to people and finding their seats. Tada chatted to Tsuwabuki, who had chosen the seat behind him, and Hanae, who had chosen the desk next to his. When he next looked to the door, Yukiyama walked through it. Tada called out a greeting to him, which he acknowledged with a grudging nod as he headed towards a seat at the very back of the class, and it took him a few moments for something to click in his brain.

 _Hold on, Yukiyama-kun wasn't meant to be in this class. Did something happen I didn't know about?_

Tada wanted to get up and rush over to ask Yukiyama what was going on, but it was at that point their teacher arrived.

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Jori Kasai (Belongs to: Let'sWriteDis)  
Koujiro Tobe( Belongs to: Captain Aron)  
Hana Aoshima (Belongs to: Lyffa)  
Daichi Tsuwabuki( Belongs to: 3-E Student)  
Mikoto Yamada(Belongs to: 3-E Student)  
Kazuma Hirigi (Belongs to: 2 )  
Izaya Arisato (Belongs to:GateBreaker)  
Seijuro Kuroba(Belongs to: GateBreaker)**

 **((I should probably also point out that Hana Aoshima's sister-Asami- also belongs to Lyffa, who is also dracobunnies on Tumblr- I've been loving your Ending the End Class fanart so far :) :) ))**

 **The scene where Mikoto Yamada is stuck up a tree was one of those scenes that just wrote itself. I was initially going to have someone who tends to use '-san' as a honorific inform Tada that she was in the tree, but I couldn't help thinking how hilarious it would be if Yamada from Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo got stuck up a tree, and so I gave Daichi Tsuwabuki the line instead. Ruko's statement that she thought she'd 'just found this class's OTP' also pretty much wrote itself. This is what my sense of humour is like, unfortunately. You have been warned, haha!**

 **But in all seriousness, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Because this is the first of two parts, there are still two more characters that need introducing, so hopefully you'll look forward to that.**

 **Please leave feedback!**


	8. Beginning of the End, part 2

"What on earth is going on?"

The teacher who entered the room turned out to be the grandmotherly type Tada had spotted earlier, when speculating about their teacher. She looked at the class in front of her, looking a little baffled as she peered at them all. Although most of the class had chosen desks, not many of them were sitting down. This was because Koujiro was assisting Reimiya and Reno in shifting around the desks All the rest were in place, but the three of them seemed to be widening the gap between those desks. And Tada could see why, as each time one of them shifted a desk, Fuyumi tested it with her wheelchair, to see if it would fit. For a moment, he felt a little bad for not having gone to help out once the whole issue with Kuroba and Ruko had been cleared up, but it seemed like the others had it under control, so he didn't dwell on that too long.

"We've needed to rearrange the space for Yukimura-san." Haru explained politely. "Otherwise it is difficult for her."

The old woman clucked, the sound a mixture of annoyance and sympathy. She looked at Fuyumi fondly, and shuffled up to her.

"Ah, of course. I'd forgotten about that….silly of me, fairly sure there was a note about that in my files….Yukimura-san, do you think you can manage for now?"

"Yes, sure. I can manoeuvre like this." Fuyumi demonstrated, and the old lady sighed with relief.

"Ah, that's good." The old lady sighed with relief, then yawned, before apologising for the yawn.

"Say, sensei, where should we put the leftover desks and chairs?" Koujiro pointed out the small group of desks and chairs. The old woman scratched her head, slightly messing up the grey curls pinned to her head.

"I suppose if you stack them over there, then one of you can take them into storage later, okay? But now, we need to begin the first register of the year." Once Koujiro had done just that (with the aid of Reno), the old woman went up to her desk, then leaned forward conspiratorially. Everyone who had been standing quickly went to their seats, and waited to see what would occur next.

"Now, I'll introduce myself- I'm Rina Ichijou, and I'll be your class teacher this year! I'm very pleased to meet you all, and I hope we have a good time together as a class. Now, I'm going to take the register, so when I call your name, I'd like it if you either stood up or raised your hand when you answered, so that I can get to remember your faces. Okay? Is that all right?"

"Yes." They chorused.

"Okay then, let's begin, children!"

To Tada, Ichijou sounded a lot like a grandmother secretly promising the children that they could stay up past their bedtimes. It was a weird first impression, to be sure.

The register-taking went relatively smoothly at first, the students perfectly willing standing up or put their hands up in response to their names, so that Ichijou could see who they were. And then she reached the name 'Eriko Fujisaki' in the register.

When she'd called the name, the girl with the name had stood up and said 'present' in a calm and clear voice, before sitting down again. But instead of just calling the next name, Ichijou had said something completely unexpected.

"And, Eriko Fujisaki-san's sister?"

"Excuse me, sensei? What do you mean, my sister?" Eriko, who was sitting a few seats down from Tada tilted her head and regarded Ichijou, dark-chocolate eyes narrowed. "I don't have any relatives in this class…"

"Possibly Ichijou-sensei was referring to me. I also have the surname 'Fujisaki'." The almost-whispered statement came from a girl sitting two seats in front of Ruko, who was right in the middle of the room. Her hair was brown like Eriko's, but a lot lighter, and tied in a ponytail. Her eyes were green, and she was one of those people who had a preference for the sweater uniform. She regarded Eriko, then turned back to Ichijou, who looked extremely flustered.

"Looks like you both being Fujisaki's is just a coincidence then….how very odd. I do apologise- I'm very used to my students often including many groups of siblings and relatives. Ahh…..but what should I call you both?" Ichijou fretted. Most of the class sweat-dropped silently at her distress.

"Well, it seems to me first names are the way to go." Eriko pointed out. "Eriko and-"

Eriko looked over at the other girl, who was still standing there, quietly, watching what was going on. She looked a little surprised at everything, but apart from that was calm.

"Kaori." She filled in. She turned her attention fully to Eriko, and their eyes locked for a moment. Neither of them said anything, but Tada got the feeling that the rest of them were all witnessing the beginnings of a friendship. Then, the two of them sat down, and Ichijou continued with the register, although not before confirming the other two people who shared a surname- Reno and Reimiya- were related.

Once they were finished, Ichijou started looking through the things on her desk.

"Ah, oh dear." She said. "It seems that I've left your timetables somewhere….I was going to give them out to you before asking about class representatives….."

"I'll go get them, Ichijou-sensei!" Haru stood up eagerly. "Did you leave them in the staffroom, maybe?"

Ichijou blinked at her.

"I think so. Are you sure you'd be okay with getting them, Ichinose-san?"

"Yes, of course."

"Ahh, what a sweet child! Thank you so much!"

Haru bowed, and rushed out of the classroom. A few minutes passed with Ichijou just sitting at the desk looking at them while the class stared back, wondering what would happen next. Tada himself was wondering what to make of the teacher. She seemed nice, but it was just the beginning. Could it be a false sense of security she was aiming for?

When Haru came back, she looked to Ichijou for a signal, and then handed out the timetables before going back to her seat.

"So…" Ichijou said. "I'm sure those timetables aren't too difficult to understand, but if you have any questions, you can ask me later. Now, for something much more important- Class Representatives!" Again, Tada got the image of an over-enthusiastic grandmother. It confused him utterly.

"Now," Ichijou continued. "As you know, each class has two representatives- a male and a female. You might not be a class that's the same as the rest of the school, but this applies to you, too, you know! So...is anybody interested. "

 _You might not be a class that's the same as the rest of the school_. _Pah!_ It was all Tada could do to not snort in derision that that complete and utter understatement. He turned around in his chair and looked around at everybody. Not a single one of them seemed interested, with expressions ranging from sceptical to wary to downright bored. Naturally, Kitabayashi and Akira's expressions couldn't be seen, as they were focused on their puzzles and writing, respectively. The same went for Mikoto, who was still gazing out of the window as if her livelihood depended upon it.

" _Hey, Tada…" she mused. "Do you ever think that The Distant Ocean needs a sidekick?"_

" _Eh?" He looked at his drawing, at how The Distant Ocean looked over his shoulder, hair whipping around his face, eyes as wet as Hiro's had been moments ago._

" _I mean, he can't do everything from so far away. Surely he needs….an ambassador of sorts. Someone who is involved in that world, you know?" There was a hidden layer in her tone of voice, and Tada tilted his head at her. In return, she stared him down. Whatever it was they were really talking about, it wasn't just about a comic-book hero's story._

Tada blinked, wondering why he'd just thought of The Distant Ocean. And then he thought about how disappointed he'd been in himself, how he'd wanted to just _do something_ , but had ended up messing up. He thought about Hiro, who'd somehow managed to do well in those end of year exams despite the upsets she'd had in the weeks leading up to it. He recalled Ueno's cold look. And then, finally, he relived the moment he refused to be ashamed, back in the entrance ceremony. He recalled the way he'd managed to throw Hasegawa off kilter, just for a moment. Then all of those thoughts merged into one, single thought.

 _Maybe I can do something. Perhaps being in the middle of what I want to change can help. I don't have to be The Distant Ocean._

"Oh, Kitakawa-kun, you're interested?" Ichijou inquired, clearly surprised that he'd stood up.

Tada nodded. He didn't dare say anything else.

"I want to make things better for us, as a class." He said, honestly and seriously. Ichijou seemed to swoon at that.

"Ah, how lovely! Now, all we need is a female representative, to help Kitakawa-kun."

Tada remained standing, but he didn't look around him. He just waited for the indication that somebody would stand up. A minute or two stretched by with nobody responding, and then he heard the scraping of chairs. In plural. One near him, and the other further away.

The first person was Tsukuda, standing next to him, and grinning at him. When he turned around, he discovered that the second person was Eriko. She just stood there patiently. Ichijou just blinked dopily, and this time Tada didn't find that depressing. He was pretty stunned himself. First, nobody was willing, and now there were two at once?! It was a big turnaround.

"Ah….well, this is unexpected." Ichijou stuttered, eventually. _You don't say!_

"Well, one of us needs to stand down, that's fairly obvious." Eriko stated. "Tsukuda-san, what do you say to the rest of the class holding a vote?"

"I'm fine with that, it's only fair, right?" Tsukuda shrugged. Tada wondered who he would vote for. His instinct was to go for Tsukuda, but that was because he knew her well…

"That's a bit biased though, isn't it?" Jori interrupted. "I mean, for some of us, we're only meeting for the very first time today!"

A few others nodded and murmured in agreement. Akira looked up at this point, and put down her notebook, evidently having decided to watch the proceedings. She caught Tada's eye, and gave him a quick brief smile before becoming serious again.

"On the other hand, there are others in here who are already close to each other, and will defy the constraints of life to continue that way." Azama added, earning odd looks from pretty much everyone in the room, Ichijou included.

"Ah, ah….you are certainly right….." Ichijou fretted. "Whatever should I do…?"

"You're meant to be the teacher, aren't you?" Hirigi pointed out somewhat snappily.

"Hirigi-kun, there isn't really any need for that." Tsuwabuki placated. "This IS an unusual situation, especially for us. "

"Then, Tada-kun should decide!" Ayako said, unexpectedly chirpy. Tada looked at Ayako questioningly. She gave him a goofy thumbs-up as a response, and he sighed, deeply. He looked back at both Tsukuda and Eriko. It was clear that both wanted the role, so he tried his best to look at it objectively. Tsukuda was lively, energetic, and clearly believed in justice. She was always defending the weak, which made her the perfect candidate for helping him to help them get a better time out of their situation. He had no idea what Eriko was like in those terms, or even what had gotten her into Class 3E, but she seemed calmer, more disciplined and less rash, which was an indicator that she would be the less likely of the two girls to get expelled in the process of changing 3E.

 _Oh, I don't know! Mum, what would you do?!_ He mentally asked, despite how useless doing such a thing was.

"Kitakawa-kun, have you decided?" Ichijou enquired, clearly aiming to hurry him along.

"Tada, please." He corrected automatically. "I think they should both be the female class representatives."

It was an impulse decision, which had everyone looking at him gobsmacked. Tada just shrugged at all of them, and waited.

"Surely that isn't allowed." Eriko said eventually.

"No, it isn't…." Ichijou murmured.

"But I think it's better that way!" Tada said, warming to his idea. "We're never going to get listened to properly, in the conventional way…"

"But if there are three instead of two, then that'll make them sit up!" Tsukuda finished, excited. Her eyes glinted as she punched the air with one fist. "I approve, I totally approve!"

"I do, too!" Ayako declared.

"I second that!" Ruko added.

"I think it's a wonderful idea." Kinomoto stated.

"It's certainly an interesting proceeding." Kuroba conceded. A few others chimed in with their own words of support for the idea, and eventually Ichijou sighed and yawned.

"Well, in that case, I'll leave the decision up to the Student Council." Ichijou said. "Tada-kun, Eriko-san, Tsukuda-san, please see me during the morning break, so that I can inform you on what to do next as Class Representatives, as well as when the first meeting is."

"Yes, Sensei." They all chorused. Ichijou clapped her hands once, and then smiled at them all.

"Well, since that's all sorted, let's begin the first lesson of the day."

 **…**

P.E. The last lesson of their day. And nothing much was particularly happening.

"So….erm…." Ichijou stood on the grass in front of them, still in the same jumper-and-skirt combination she'd been wearing before, looking fairly clueless. "Do any of you have any particular games you like to play?"

"Games?" Haru echoed.

"Any physical games, like dodgeball or football or tag….." Ichijou explained. "You see, I'm not really familiar with what it is a P.E teacher really teaches…"

 _Are you for real?!_ Most of the class's expressions reflected the very same sentiment.

"Then is there any point in you being here?" Ruko muttered caustically. Out of the corner of his eye, Tada saw Ayako place a placating hand on Ruko's shoulder despite looking like she agreed all too well with that sentiment.

"Couldn't we just do our own things?" Jori asked, experimentally doing a few backflips, causing others near her to scatter.

"Yes, let's have this as another free period." Not yet able to distinguish all the voices from each other, Tada didn't know which boy had said that, but the comment had Ichijou nodding.

"I suppose….I suppose it's not such a big deal for now, since it's the first day….but I'll think of something later. For now though…well, you're all fourteen and fifteen year olds, you'll be fine out here alone."

"Why, where are you going, Ichijou-sensei?" Eriko asked.

"Just inside, to do some things. If you need me, I'll be in the staffroom, okay?" and with that, Ichijou plodded back inside the building. Tada stared at her receding form for a moment, and then sat down on the grass in defeat. For a moment, he found himself thinking it would be good if Hiro had been there. That way, they'd be able to practise some sort of sparring, even if it was just fist-work. But he got rid of that thought really quickly. He wouldn't want Hiro here, not under any circumstances.

"Hey, hey, Tada-kun, help me out!" Ayako said gleefully, kneeling down in front of him.

"With what?"

"Why, with getting to know everyone of course! Don't you want to befriend everyone?" Ayako bounced a little. "Don't you want to find out about everyone?"

"Sure, I suppose…." Tada looked around him, and watched how Jori was doing various different jumps and flips while Fuyumi sat in her wheelchair and gave her different tips on how to improve, all while hesitantly flexing her own legs. Izzy and Kuroba were by themselves, again deep in conversation. Eriko and Kaori were doing something similar, but they did occasionally turn to exchange words with Ruko, Haru, Kinomoto and quite a few of the others, who were all sitting happily in a group not too far from them. He spotted Yukiyama further away from them, hands in pockets, walking carefully but steadily away into the forest. _I should ask him about why he's here._

"Sure, I'll join you guys. Give me a moment though, okay?"

"What are you….?" But Tada was already off and away, running to close the gap between Yukiyama and him.

"Yukiyama-kun!" the boy seemed determined to ignore Tada, but Tada was determined too.

"Yukiyama-kun!" he called again and again, speeding up a little. When he got close enough, he reached out to touch Yukiyama's shoulder, but tapped at his back instead. Yukiyama flinched violently, and stopped.

"What the fuck was that for?" he snarled, shying away with more vehemence than Tada had expected. Yukiyama then gave him a vicious look. Tada thought of just giving up, of just saying 'never mind' and walking back to join the others, because it really wasn't his business. But then he thought of the way Hiro looked whenever she happened to catch sight of Yukiyama. _Like she'd been given the world._

"I just wanted to know why you're in this class. From what I heard, you were meant to be on the main campus this year."

Yukiyama's look didn't become any softer, but he didn't dismiss the question out of hand. Tada waited.

"You're right. I was meant to be." He explained. "But a couple of days before we were due to start, the place I live got a phone call, stating that I'd been found in violation of the school rules, so I would be here, instead. Happy?"

' _Place I live'? Not 'my home'?_ "What rule?" As far as he could think, Yukiyama kept his head down and attended lessons, and hadn't been in any fights, despite being rude to nearly the entire student body. So Tada couldn't think of anything.

"What's it to you?" Yukiyama retorted. In an attempt to be conciliatory, Tada reached out to touch Yukiyama's shoulder, but he stepped away and snarled again.

"Don't touch me!" as he said this, he turned away, and then winced.

"Are you hurt?" Tada asked instantly. "Did someone do something to you? We can go to Ichijou-sensei…"

"None of your business!" Yukiyama said violently. He stayed still and waited for a moment, gritting his teeth, presumably waiting for whatever pain he was in to subside.

"Presumably you're asking because of Chihiro?" Yukiyama said eventually, sounding a little less irritated. Tada blinked, surprised he'd been that obvious, and then nodded. He also found it a little strange that Yukiyama would use his sister's whole given name. But that in itself wasn't _so_ odd when he thought about it, as Hiro wasn't nearly as insistent on her nickname as Tada was for his.

"I know she was looking forward to getting to see you." He offered. Yukiyama nodded, expression softening just a bit more. _Maybe he feels the same towards her?! That would be a good thing, I think…the only issue is if I should help things along or not…._

"If you must know, I have a job. And not one I'm about to give up, either." Yukiyama said. Tada nodded seriously.

"Okay. I won't ask any more about that." He said. "Just….are you sure you're okay?"

"Not your problem." Yukiyama said shortly, and walked away from Tada again. This time, he didn't bother stopping him, and went back to join Ayako and the others.

"What was that about? Do you have some issues with Yukiyama-san?" Ayako asked.

"No, not really. I just thought he'd be on the main campus this year, that's all." Tada explained.

"Tada's right, he was meant to be there." Tsukuda put in. "Did he tell you why he's here now?"

"Yeah…" Tada decided not to elaborate. This made Ayako question him over-enthusiastically, to the point that Tsuwabuki and Haru had to intervene and get her to back off, while Ruko decided to complicate the manner by pulling up bits of grass and throwing it at them. When they managed to distract Ayako sufficently, they all sat back, exhausted.

"Are you all always like this?" Hana asked shyly, having been silently sitting by Tsukuda's side up until then. She fiddled with the too-large sleeves of her blazer.

"I can't speak for myself, but unfortunately, Ruko-Chan's a lost cause." Tada informed her solemnly, finding the way her eyes widened funny. Ruko whacked him on the head with her bag of wine gums, and laughed.

"How dare you!" she joked. "I am _more_ than a lost cause!"

"So, what are you then?" Haru asked. Ruko paused and looked at her for a moment, Then, she shrugged cheerfully.

"Who knows?" she said, stuffing more wine gums into her mouth and munching enthusiastically.

"How many packets of those have you eaten?" Tsuwabuki enquired, looking slightly awestruck.

"I lost count at twenty." Ruko grinned, looking unexpectedly feline. "Or was it thirty?"

"How….are you not diabetic yet?!" Tsuwabuki spluttered, following Ruko's gaze to the many empty packets littered in front of her.

"That's a good question, Tsuwabuki-kun!" Tada laughed. "A very good question."

"May we join you?" Fuyumi wheeled herself across the grass, with Jori and Koujiro jogging closely behind.

"Sure, sure, of course." Haru, Hana, Tsukuda and Reimiya all shuffled to a side to give them space to sit down (or, in Fuyumi's case, to park her wheelchair).

"So, what's everyone talking about?" Koujiro said, conversationally.

"We _were_ meant to be getting to know each other." Ayako pouted. "But now we're all just being weird."

"But surely that's just as good a way to get to know each other." Tsukuda objected.

"It's spontaneous." Hana pointed out.

"And some people don't like it much, when they get interrogated too much." Reimiya piped up. "S-so this is more relaxing." When everyone looked at her, she blushed bright red. Reno patted Reimiya on the shoulder and beamed at her. She grinned at him, and adjusted her scarf. Eventually, her blush faded, and she returned to just listening.

"Hmm….I suppose." Ayako thought about it. "We should just do this every P.E. lesson! P.E's a bit pointless, I'm so bad at sports!"

"Hey, I happen to like P.E!" Koujiro said. "It's actually disappointing that Ichijou-sensei's so clueless about it."

"What do you expect from being in Class 3E?" Ruko snapped, surprisingly pissed off. Between them, Ayako, Ruko and Koujiro squabbled for a few minutes, until Tsukuda cut them off unexpectedly.

"Say, perhaps we could do something about that, as Class Reps, right, Tada?" Tsukuda asked. She turned around to where Eriko and Kaori were talking.

"Say, Eriko, what about it?"

"What about what?" Eriko asked.

"I believe they were discussing our P.E. lessons." Kaori murmured thoughtfully. "They do have a point though, Eri-Chan. We can hardly use P.E as a free period all the time."

"Hm….is this going to be the first thing we do as Class Representatives?" Eriko asked them.

Tada nodded. "That was the general idea."

Eriko pursed her lips and thought about it. Tada and Tsukuda also fell deep into thought.

"It seems to me you have two options." Akira suggested as she walked over, evidently having decided to join them. "First, we find something that we can 'teach' each other, so P.E lessons become a form of independent learning. Second, when Tada-san and the others go to the first meeting, they petition to get an additional teacher up here for the express purposes of P.E.

"What do you think, Tada-san?" Akira asked, as if she'd only been directing her words at him. _Which kind of makes sense; given that this is Akira-Chan._ Tada shrugged.

"I suppose."

"They'll just say we don't deserve it though." Eriko lamented, bitterly. "It's usually the way these things go. You get punished for doing the right thing, in this place."

"Tell me about it!" Tsukuda commiserated.

"I guess it's worth a try, right?" Hana asked. Her facial expression was cautiously optimistic, but her voice wavered just a bit. Tada wondered if she even believed her own words. She noticed Tada staring at her, and gave him a curious look. Tada shrugged, and turned back to Eriko and Tsukuda, who debated it enthusiastically while Kaori offered a few points.

"We'll put both points forward as ideas." Eriko eventually concluded. "Then, we'll take it from there."

"Sounds good to me." Tada said.

"Woot, woot!" Ruko crowed. "Go for it, Class Reps!"

Everyone laughed, and then they changed the topic to talk about TV shows and books they all liked, right until the time they needed to get changed back into their school clothes. As Fuyumi was the only one who hadn't changed, she waited outside the school building, reading a book until Jori, Koujiro and Tada came back out.

"Ready to go?" Tada asked, cheerfully as he showed her that he'd picked up her things for her.

"Yup." She beamed. "Ah, but…could I just check my bag…?"

"Everything is in there, Fuyumi-Chan."

"Oh, I know that, I just need to check _how_ it's in there."

"Oh, Fuyumi-san, it's not such a big deal!" Jori said, pretending to be annoyed. "Just let Tada-san carry it for you and deal with it at home."

"You're right. Sorry." Fuyumi handed back her bag, and allowed Jori to lift her up, while Koujiro took charge of the wheelchair, and Tada assisted, just like that morning. Hanae joined them, along with Reimiya, Reno, Akira, Kitabayashi and Yamada, with many of the others close behind. Although Kitabayashi could not be coaxed into a friendly conversation, Yamada entertained them all by obsessing about the moon, spurting out facts faster than a Google search. But, just like Kitabayashi, when they got nearer to the bottom of the hill, she rushed off. A few others also going in similar directions left, but they at least bid Tada and the others farewell.

"Ah, there's Hiro-san." Fuyumi pointed further along the road, where Hiro was indeed waiting, talking to Yukiyama, who had evidently snuck off ahead of them all. As they got closer, Tada could see how Yukiyama was a whole lot less brusque around Hiro.

"They've definitely met before." Fuyumi murmured almost inaudibly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"They've met before. Somewhere. Not sure where. "

"That's….not possible, Fuyumi-Chan." Tada said dumbly. Fuyumi just shrugged and gave him an enigmatic look.

"Well, it's no biggie. If you want to go on home now, I'm fine with that."

"Eh?" Tada regarded Fuyumi. "Are you sure?"

Fuyumi nodded hard.

"We'll be fine, Koujiro-san, Jori-san and I. But come in the morning, won't you?"

"Yes, of course." Handing back her things, Tada bowed and ran up the road to greet Hiro, after yelling goodbyes to the others who were nearby. Hiro turned to see him, and waved enthusiastically. When he got to them, Hiro grinned at him, and then at Yukiyama.

"I…well, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked Yukiyama hopefully. Tada noticed that Hiro was holding her phone in her hand, and that it was unlocked and currently open to her address book. _Ah, Hiro._ He smiled at the thought, and then looked Yukiyama in the eye. Yukiyama startled for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes, getting Tada's meaning. He nodded once at Tada, then returned his attentions to Hiro.

"Possibly." He said. With that being said, he walked away, almost running.

"Bye, Saito." Hiro said, very quietly. She stood for a while, watching him disappear. Tada didn't say anything, not wanting to ruin the moment, and just waited for Yukiyama to disappear. Once he had, they started walking.

" _I was really surprised to see Saito come from your building!"_ Hiro signed.

" _I didn't know anything about it, either, until today."_ Tada responded. _"Did he tell you about it, before I came down?"_

" _Yeah, he did."_ Tada sighed at that, relieved. It was good to know Yukiyama hadn't lied to him.

" _So,"_ Tada asked. _"Good day? Is your class any good?"_

" _Fast. Very formal. Not a nice atmosphere, really. The teachers are very helpful though, when you ask them something- they really know what they're doing. And I have quite a few friends from last year though, so it's okay. And outside lessons, everyone talks and supports each other. What about you? Will you be okay in 3E?"_

"Hm….." Tada thought about the entire day, then signed. _"Actually, a lot of interesting things happened today. I'll tell you all about them when we're at home."_

" _But?"_

" _But….in terms of being okay, all I can really say is, it's just the beginning. We might have heard about what it's like being in 3E, but it's not like I've experienced it yet, you know? So like I said, it's just the beginning. Does that make sense?"_

" _Yeah."_ Hiro smiled. _"I get you."_

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Eriko Fujisaki( Belongs to: Class 3-E Student)  
Kaori Fujisaki (Belongs to: MariRuby)**

 **As you can see from those two names, my sense of humor struck again =P Once I noticed that I had two unrelated characters with the same family name I just couldn't resist! But anyway, that's all the 3E introductions done! Meaning this is the end of the Introduction Arc!And...erm, actually, I have nothing else to say, even though I feel like I should have. So, yeah. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Please leave feedback, and don't forget the Ending the End Class tumblr tag!**


	9. Meetings

**As you may remember, I was toying with the idea of introducing other POVs after the introduction arc. Based on the feedback I got relating to that idea, that is indeed what I'll be doing, but Tada will still remain the main POV in the story (though where appropriate, some chapters will not have his POV. But this will be rare anyway). So, this chapter marks the start of the different POVs coming in. Enjoy!**

Ruko signed for the parcel with a flourish, and then nearly rammed the door into the poor deliveryman's face as she rushed back inside to open it. Perhaps it would have been better if the parcel had arrived at a time that wasn't when she was about to leave for school, but she didn't care. She'd been waiting for the latest volumes of these light novel and manga series for ages, and now they were finally here. She wasn't about to just leave the parcel and let it stagnate while she got through another school day. No, instead, she was going to open that parcel and give herself a moment or two to fan-girl, and then take some of the volumes to school with her to read when she finished her classwork.

That, and it meant that she had a lesser chance of running into Ueno. But she tried not to think of that as she tore into the cardboard box, leaving it in shreds around the neatly wrapped pile of books. _Thank you, Dad!_ She grinned happily as she tore off the newspaper and admired the clean, new and shiny volumes, the wonderful images on the front depicting everything the light novels would offer, and more. Humming a theme tune from an anime adaptation of one of the series, she held up one book after another and regarded them hungrily as she thought about which ones to take. And once she'd picked out three, she quickly stuffed them in her bag, and then took the others upstairs, so that they could take their places on her shelf. Then, she went back down.

"Ah, wait!" as soon as her feet hit the bottom of the stairs, she rushed back to her living room and looked for her box of Indian sweets that she'd stuffed under the sofa. Once she found those, they also went in her bag, and this time, she was out of the door for real. Still humming, she danced down the street, very happy with herself. She pretty much had everything she needed to get through another day in her class- sweets, yaoi and some of her friends.

 _Some of them._

That thought slowed down her steps for a moment, and her steps became heavier. And as they did, her head turned automatically turned towards the house opposite her. The door opened, and Ueno came out of the door, followed by his little sister Aimi. Their mother appeared in the doorway, holding Souji, Ueno's baby cousin. _I should be there, hand in front of the doorbell, about to press it just as Naru-san opens the door with Souji-Chan, just as Shou-Chan and Aimi-Chan come to the door, ready to leave. I should be there._ But she wasn't. She was at her own door, instead.

"Shou-nii! Ai! No go! " Souji babbled loudly, holding out his chubby palms to Ueno, who took them and squeezed fondly, before ruffling the toddler's hair.

"We have to go, Sou-kun." Even from across the street, Ruko could hear the devotion in Ueno's voice, which remained as he switched his attentions from the baby to his sister. "But we'll play when we get home, okay? Aimi, let's go now. You don't want to be late."

"Yay, play! Play!" Souji giggled, wriggling.

"Okay, Nii-san." Aimi nodded. "Bye-bye, Mama!"

"Have a good day now, you two." Their mother said. "Bye now."

"Bye, Mum." Their mother started to close the door, but Souji had some parting words for Ueno just before the door shut.

"Ru-Ru! Ru-Ru! Play too!"

"What do you mean, Sou-kun?" Ueno asked-uselessly, since the door had closed- even as he turned around. His eyes met Ruko's, and the two of them froze. They both just looked at each other, and Ruko her face looked just as startled as Ueno's. _Say something, you stupid idiot!_ But Ueno didn't say anything at all. Instead, he just gave her a look full of regret and pity. It was a look she'd familiarised herself with over the past few weeks, starting from the day she'd found out that she would be in E-Class for her third year in middle school. He'd given it to her too many times. Which might have been an one-up from the way he treated many of his so-called former friends who were now in her boat, but was still unforgivable. She opened her mouth, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but just like the other times she'd tried, that was the point at which Ueno turned away, and busied himself with hurrying Aimi along.

Angry, she let out a huff, and began to take her phone out of her pocket, but decided not to. The call would just get ignored, just as usual, and just like the messages. There was no point. _Stupid, stupid Shou-Chan! Stupid Shou-Chan and your need for boxes. Piss off, then, I don't need you._ She wiped away tears, annoyed with herself, and broke into a run. She needed to get ahead of Ueno, so that she didn't need to look at him anymore, and also that he wouldn't see her as she took a detour to the sweetshop of their childhood.

Because the sweets she had in her bag right at that moment weren't nearly enough. Not anymore.

 **…**

"So…" Tada looked down at the map in his hand as they stood just inside the forest. "This map says that we need to go that way." He pointed confidently, although he felt anything but. _There is no way in bloody hell that this is a short-cut!_ It had been a week and a bit since he'd started his third year, and now it was time for the first meeting with all the Representatives from each class. In an odd way, he looked forward to it, but mostly he was just dreading it.

"Ah, ah, we may as well get a move on!" Tsukuda huffed, regarding the scenery in front of them. "I just want to get through this forest as soon as possible. If we stay too long all the creepy-crawlies are gonna set up camp on me, I just _know_ it. " Tsukuda grimaced, and Tada supressed a laugh at that grimace.

"That, and if we get there on time, the meeting might finish quicker and we can get back to lessons." Eriko had a point. To attend this meeting, they were missing their morning break, and would be missing a lesson or two as well. The main-campus students, on the other hand, only had to miss a lesson. And, being main-campus students, would be given support materials to help them catch up-not too much, because they had to be independent learners- but enough to give them a start. 3E members got nothing, naturally. They would have to do all their catching up themselves.

"Yeah, well." Tsukuda huffed as they began walking through the forest. They walked for a while in silence, partially looking at the map the school had provided them, but mostly just using instinct to get themselves through. When they reached a ridiculous thicket of brambles, they all ground to a halt, cursing in varying degrees.

"Now, how do we get through this?" Tada pondered, squatting down and grabbing at the twisting plants, attempting to pull them apart to create an opening. In the process, he got pricked at, and he swore as he ripped at the plants.

"Step aside, Tada-san." Eriko reached for a branch above her, and snapped it off. Then, holding it like a sword, she attacked the brambles, helping Tada to clear them. Like this, they eventually managed to clear a reasonably large hole, and they all squeezed through it, one by one.

"Pretty impressive, Eriko-Chan." Tada commented when they were on the other side and had started walking again. Eriko just shrugged impassively.

"Well, it's not like I could just stand there and let you deal with that all by yourself." She reasoned.

"In that case, I am grateful."

"And now I feel bad." Tsukuda sniped, kicking the ground as they walked. "I didn't even do anything to help."

Tada turned to grin at her.

"Ah, don't worry yourself, Protector of the Small. You do plenty to help us all already." He said, thinking of how they'd first met, and also the way she seemed to have already taken the more vulnerable members of their class under her wings, defending them from any hurtful thing someone else might want to do or say to them.

"That's kind of y-I'm sorry, _what_ did you just call me?"

"Protector of the Small. Why?"

"What is that meant to mean exactly? And why are you calling me that?"

" _Lady Knight_ doesn't ring any bells? What about Tamora Pierce?"

"Nope, I have no clue. Is this more of your book nonsense?"

"Why yes, Protector of the Small, the answer is to do with books. However your assumption about nonsense is sorely mistaken."

"ARGH! Are you seriously going to be calling me that forever?"

"Perhaps I will. Does that trouble you?"

"Just so you know, I happen to _like_ my name. Which is _Hanae_."

"Yeah, I get that. I like your name too, Hanae-Chan. But Protector of the Small suits you too."

"But _nobody_ nicknames me!"

"Apparently someone does now." Eriko remarked, having kept silent as she watched Tada and Tsukuda's heated exchange with amusement. Now she had spoken, she allowed herself a little laugh.

"You two are really lively, aren't you?"

"We have our moments, I guess." Tada said. "At least you can keep us in check."

"I'm considering running the other way at the moment, actually." Eriko said this seriously, but it made Tsukuda crack up. The laughter caught on, and they chuckled for a good few moments as they carried on through the forest and down the hill. Eventually though, the laughter wore away and they became tired.

"Say, Tada-san, how far have we gone?" Eriko asked. Tada consulted the map, squinting at it.

"We've managed to cover some distance…." He turned the map around so that it faced the two girls, and pointed it out. They both squinted at it.

"Oh great." Tsukuda groaned a few beats later. "This _really_ isn't a shortcut…."

"No, it isn't." Tada agreed. "Perhaps we should just cut back and use the same route we use go and come from home?"

"That'll take more time though, given we've already walked this far." Eriko pointed out, pursing her lips. Tada nodded slowly. Tsukuda regarded them both, and then dug in her pockets.

"Here, want some beef jerky? Might perk us up a bit." she asked, holding out the strange brown sticks. Tada and Eriko looked at each other, then shrugged and took some. They began to walk again, all three of them munching. They chatted a little bit, mostly about the possibility of having their own study session to catch up on what they missed, but they just munched on Tsukuda's beef jerky sticks and walked. And that way, they managed to get themselves to the entrance of the main campus successfully.

"Ah, man, I'm beat!" Tada exclaimed. Eriko took a few moments to catch her breath, while Tsukuda methodically brushed herself all over.

"Uh, Hanae-Chan?" Tada stared at Tsukuda, wondering what on earth she was doing.

"Insects. Stupid insects. I don't particularly want to find out that some of them snuck into my clothes after I worked so hard to avoid them….." Tsukuda muttered in annoyance as she continued brushing at her clothes.

"Oh-kay then…."

"Come on, let's go inside." Eriko said. "We don't want to be late."

Eriko was correct about that, so they all headed inside and made their way to the meeting, which was in a boardroom on the top floor, right next to Principal Okikura's. That particular fact had surprised Tada, since he'd thought that Okikura's office took up the entire floor. But apparently not. When they entered the monochrome-schemed yet almost opulent room, many faces stared back at them coldly. The coldest of them all belonged to Takeru Hasegawa.

"Why are there three of you here? This is a Class Representatives meeting."

"And we are those representatives." Eriko stated calmly. "Hanae Tsukuda-san, Tadaomi Kitakawa-san, and Eriko Fujisaki- that's me."

"And as I said, this is a Class Representatives meeting. There should only be two of you. Are you really so stupid that you don't know that?"

"Ah, Hasegawa-kun, they're 3E, so what do you expect?" A boy and a girl pushed past Tada and the others, deliberately shoving into them as they did so. Tsukuda scowled at them, but stepped into the room and to a side. Tada and Eriko joined her.

"That's true." Another boy sneered. "Clearly, 3E are a sorry bunch this year, even by 3E standards. Why, the only people willing to volunteer for the role of 3E Class Representatives are a boy who can't listen and two violent bitches." Hearing the insult towards Tsukuda and Eriko, Tada felt his heart shrivel, and he gritted his teeth.

"Violent? Student Council President, is that true?" a younger-looking girl asked, wide eyed. _She must be a representative of a first-year classroom. Poor thing._ Tada found himself feeling oddly sorry for the girl as she stared beseechingly at Hasegawa.

"Do you mind NOT talking about us as though we aren't here?" Tsukuda snarled. Hasegawa tutted at them.

"Unfortunately yes." He said, pityingly. "But do not worry, that is why they are up in the old campus. You will only ever have to encounter these people rarely. Just try to endure those times and we will come on top, okay, Endou-san?"

"Y-yes."

"Good, good." Hasegawa nodded, satisfied. Tada stared at him, and enjoyed the brief moment of shock when their eyes met. When Tada turned away, he noticed Ueno, sitting down at the table next to another girl with eyes the same colour as their school blazer. Ueno narrowed his already narrow eyes at Tada, then made a point of turning away and whispering to the girl next to him. Tada sighed, still finding himself hurt at Ueno's continued betrayal, and feeling just as confused, too.

"But Pres, what do we do? One of them needs to go." an older, more assertive blue haired girl stared daggers at them all, particularly at Eriko, who just stared back calmly, sticking a hand out to prevent Tsukuda from charging at them. The various class representatives either stared or just sniggered and whispered.

"For God's sake, just let them stay!" this outburst came from another girl, in the same year as the three of them. She bored holes into Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko with eyes that flashed dangerously.

"I mean, come on." The girl continued, shooting her vitriol directly at the three of them. "The meeting's barely started and already you're making this all about you! If you're looking for pity, you won't get it here. I honestly don't give a damn if ten of you want to represent your class, but just do it already and shut up about it. President Hasegawa, can't we just bend the rules for once and get it over with?"

 _Interesting._ While Eriko remained calm and Tsukuda trembled beside him. Tada found this girl interesting. It was perfectly clear she held the same disregard towards 3E as the rest of the students in the room did, yet her hatred did not seem to be of the same type as theirs. What type it was, he had no idea, but it was certainly different. And there was something familiar about her lively light brown eyes, and her facial features. _Perhaps somewhere along the line she'll be the first to actually listen to us._ He scrutinised her. A memory tugged at his mind, of poignancy and exasperation, but also affection. Of the feeling of having intruded upon an incredibly intimate moment.

 _Could it be…?_ But as he tried to focus on the threads of that memory, the present situation called back at him, and he gave up for that moment. There were more important things at stake right now.

"Girl has a point." The bluenette remarked, staring Tada and the others down. Hasegawa sighed again.

"Very well then. The three of you may stay. Please sit down wherever there's a seat, and we'll begin this meeting." Suddenly, Hasegawa was being charismatic towards them. Tada didn't trust it for a second. The three of them sat down, with Tada in-between Tsukuda and Eriko.

For the vast majority of the meeting, the three of them were ignored. Hasegawa talked the most, closely followed by the bluenette-who turned out to be the Deputy President, Miki Otsuka- while the others chimed in at various points where appropriate. But whenever Tada or the other two tried to talk, they were either talked over or just downright ignored. Even so, the three of them kept on trying.

Eventually, it got to the point where each pair of Class Representatives raised issues their classes had brought to them, starting with 3A, then going down to 3D, before starting with the very first of the first year classes and going back up again. Naturally, 3E were tacked on after this, as an afterthought of sorts. But when the time came, they jumped at it.

"And now….Class 3E, are there any issues you would like to raise?" Hasegawa said, bored. Instantly, Eriko stood up.

"Actually, there are. We have two. Tada-san?" Eriko nodded at Tada, and he stood up.

"First, Hasegawa-kun, there is the issue of our P.E lessons. We are honestly grateful for Ichijou-sensei taking the time to teach our class. " _Well, that's a stretch, but since she's a nice person really, it'll do for now._ "However, we've noticed that her capabilities don't seem to stretch to being able to give us P.E lessons that will be of any help. This has troubled more than a few members of our class, who are committed to keeping physically fit. That's the long and short of it, right, Eriko-Chan, Hanae-Chan?"

Eriko and Tsukuda nodded in the affirmative. Hasegawa and Otsuka all but sniggered at Tada's explanation, which he'd kept as simple as possible.

"So…" Otsuka intoned. "What is it you want?"

"We would like to politely request another teacher for our class, only for the duration of our P.E lessons. "

"Denied." Hasegawa stated flatly. "You should know that Class 3E are only granted the privilege of one teacher, to cover all subjects. So deal with it." This final pronouncement was met with a couple of hoots of laughter, and neither Hasegawa nor Otsuka stopped it. A silence reigned for a moment after that, as everyone clearly waited for Tada to sit down. He didn't. He knew full well that Hasegawa was lying, because of his mother's class, but he didn't want to bring her name up, knowing full well what would occur if he did. Instead, he just moved on to the other issue they'd wanted to resolve today.

"And we have one last request."

"Which is?"

"I'm sure that you know full well the circumstances and details of those of us in our class 3E, Hasegawa-kun, so you will be aware that a class member is currently wheelchair bound.

"Ah, yes. Fuyumi Yukimura-san. I'm aware of it, as my Nana was on that team at the time. Still is, actually. It was a local inter-middle-school competition, if I remember correctly." _Uh…_ my _Nana? Bleurgh. She's meant to be your sister!_ Tada really didn't like the tone Hasegawa's voice took when mentioning Nana's name.

"Yes, that is exactly who we are talking about." Eriko put in. "And what we are asking for is some concessions for her."

"For example, could you not let her into the main campus? And, if her grades are the main problem, could you loan us some sort of cart service to get her up to our campus each day?As far as I know, Fuyumi-Chan is doing her very best to bring her grades back up, and although she still gets treatments, she's doing her best to limit her appointments to out of school hours. And getting to our campus on a wheelchair is incredibly difficult. So could you not have some compassion?" Tada appealed, hoping to reach Hasegawa's good side, if there was any. He half glanced at Ueno, but didn't try to catch the eye of his former friend. He could not expect Ueno to speak up for him.

"You want the school budget to be blown on a crippled 3E student? Are you real?" Otsuka spat. At that, Tsukuda leapt out of her chair.

"She broke her legs representing _this school_!Does that not count for something?" she almost managed to vault over the table, trying to get at Hasegawa or Otsuka, and both Eriko and Tada had to work to hold her back.

"Sit down! All of you!" Hasegawa snapped after just watching their struggle for a few moments. Startled, all three of them did.

"Now, Kitakawa-kun. It's nice to see how dedicated you are to helping your classmates. Truly the mark of a good representative, unlike certain people." He said conciliatorily. "However, the fact is that Yukimura-san's situation was one she bought upon herself, and as such, she is in Class 3E. And as you know, it is us, here on the main campus, who get priority in the school budget. So I'm denying your request."

"Seriously? Those are your reasons? Do you not have a heart, by any chance?" Eriko asked acidly. She got the attention of Otsuka, who made a brief throat-slitting gesture at Eriko. Tada and Tsukuda both caught sight of this, and this incensed Tsukuda, who got up once again and tried to get to Eriko. This time around, Tada grabbed at her wrist and forcibly pulled her back down into the chair. Once her bottom had hit the chair, he held onto her wrist tightly.

"Hanae-Chan!" He whispered, scolding. She turned to look at him, her eyes fiery yet welling up. They looked at each other for a moment, and then she shrugged resignedly and turned back to face Hasegawa and Otsuka, the same as everybody else did.

"Oh my, " One of the other Class Representatives said. "It seems like they're acting out. Aren't you going to punish them, President Hasegawa?"

Hasegawa pretended to think about it, drenching the room in silence once again. Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko waited, tensely. As they did so, Tsukuda carefully eased her wrist out of Tada's grasp, but only far enough that her own fingers were still loosely in that grasp. Then, she curled her fingers around Tada's and he squeezed in return. They didn't look at each other, but simply stayed like that and waited for Hasegawa's verdict.

"Well, since they actually did not harm any of us, no, I will not punish them for now. That, and I am going to take into account that this is their very first time being in such a meeting. Particularly in Kitakawa-kun's case, as he only transferred here near the end of last year. Do you understand this, Representatives of Class 3E."

Eriko, as the calmest of them, answered with a simple one-word answer. Tada and Tsukuda's hands loosened and returned to their sides in relief.

"You're lucky this time." Otsuka remarked, lips stretched in a sneer. _THIS is lucky?_

"Pfft. Well at least now we know why they wanted to have three of them here, right? They wouldn't even be able to tell their head from their arse if there'd only been two." The comment from a Class Representative made almost everyone in the room laugh, and after Hasegawa had made a few parting points, the meeting was ended and everyone left to return to their lessons.

To get back to their campus, they decided to go back the way they would if they were just travelling to school in the morning, and as the three of them found that the route was a lot quicker, and less arduous, they all decided that was the route they'd get the class to take when the class assemblies came around. But they decided not to talk about that. For now, the priority was their lessons, and telling the others what happened in the meeting.

When Tada entered the class, he almost got a heart attack, because the moment he came through the door was the same time at which Ruko decided to leap from the beams criss-crossing the roof, and back onto the floor. Predictably, she was also clinging to her camera.

"Oh, what's that noise?" Ichijou blinked, looking from Ruko to Tada to Eriko and Tsukuda and back again. _Was Ichijou-sensei asleep?_

"Nothing, sensei!" Ruko chirped, fake sweet, giving the teacher a dark look that she was oblivious too. Ichijou nodded warily, then noticed that the three class representatives were back.

"Ah, you're back!" she said. "I hope it was a good meeting!"

"Uh…." Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko all exchanged looks. Ichijou seemed to notice the tension, because she laughed, awkwardly. And then promptly fell asleep again, causing the entire class to sweat-drop simultaneously in embarrassment. _I was right….but I don't feel good about that at all!_

"And, so, Sorachi-san, what were you doing in the roof, exactly?" Eriko asked pointedly.

"Look at all the romance going on!" Ruko made an expansive gesture with her hands, and Tada noticed how all the tables had been pushed together to make larger ones for the purpose of group work, presumably some sort of worksheets. A quick glance at the blackboard and what was written on it told Tada that the worksheet was for an English lesson, and that it seemed to involve pairing words. And, knowing Ruko well enough, he could immediately spot the particular groups that had prompted her mad antics: the friendly but unremarkable interactions of Kinomoto and Tsuwabuki -who were part of Ruko's group too, if the luridly coloured books on the same table were any indicator-, Koujiro's attempts to get Kitabayashi to melt by chatting in English, and finally and most obviously there was Kuroba and Izzy, as close as always. Interestingly, Yukiyama was also sitting with the two boys, but the way he hunched over a worksheet made it clear he only sat at that table to fulfil the requirement of being in a group. All ordinary scenes to any other person, but not Ruko.

"Ah, typical Ruko-Chan." Tada shook his head and sighed, while Eriko rolled her eyes and walked past them to join the group Kaori, Haru and Hirigi had made, and after some thought, Tsukuda went there too.

Grinning, Ruko laughed evilly and scooted up to Tada, peering into his face.

"I'd show you the photos, but they're going in my secret stash!" she said, almost seductively (although the effect was ruined by her grin). Tada took a neat step back, and then another.

"Well, that's good to know. I don't really need to see them…."

"Oh, okay." Ruko paused, and considered Tada. "Why don't you come join us? One of us will fill you in on the lessons you missed."

"Sounds good to me."

 **…**

Ayako had no idea whether the day she'd just had was a good one or a bad one. On the one hand, she'd enjoyed the company of the wonderful members of her class, and she'd found out so many interesting things about them- such as how Koujiro'd had spent a year in America as an exchange student, or how Eriko's family owned a dojo, or even how Izzy was talented in parkour (she'd been utterly blown away when Kuroba had coaxed him into a little demonstration during their so-called P.E lesson). Little details, but they were all so _interesting_ , unlike her.  
Then there were all the potential romances the class could have. Unlike Ruko, she didn't live life under a constant yaoi radar, but she had to admit there was something _very_ interesting about the interactions of Izzy and Kuroba. They rarely went anywhere without each other. But there were plenty of hetero pairings to ship, too, and she hadn't fully decided which ones she did ship, especially since some names cropped up in more than one pairing. Even so, she'd noted all of them down. Time would tell her how off the mark she was with particular pairings. Or, inversely, how accurate she had been. Either way, that was something that would only become clear in time.

But on the other hand, her happiness at her current situation had been tamped down by the news Tada had brought back about the meeting. If there was anything she hated about the 3E system, it was _that_. And Ichijou was starting to irritate her- sure, their teacher was nice, but she was clearly incompetent. And it wasn't fair at all. So as she walked down the hill with Tada, Fuyumi, Jori, Koujiro, Ruko and some others, she sulked, only coming out of the sulk to reply to various bits of conversation.

"Say, Ayako-san, what do you think of that?" Haru asked her suddenly. Ruko looked at her expectantly, and stuck her tongue out at her randomly. Ayako pulled a face back before realising she had no idea what Haru had been asking.

"I'm sorry, what?" she slapped both of her cheeks, suddenly deciding that she'd had enough of sulking. Not that she wouldn't sulk later in the privacy of her own bedroom, but still. She shook her head and tried to focus on the conversation.

"We were talking about what we should do about out P.E lessons, since we clearly need to deal with it ourselves." Tsukuda explained, sounding bitter.

"Well…." _I have no idea._

"I was thinking that maybe the more athletically-minded members of the class might be able to teach us a few tricks." Kinomoto suggested. Ayako had a vision of Izzy flying through the air and winced. _I don't particularly want to die any time soon, you know._

"Like us, right?" Koujiro asked, cheerfully as he and Tada carried Fuyumi's wheelchair. "I'd be game for that."

"I would, too." Jori agreed.

"I wouldn't be able to do anything directly, but I could liaise with Jori-san and Koujiro-san to help out." Fuyumi offered.

"Those all sound like good ideas. How would that work, exactly, do you think?" Tada asked. From there on, the discussion continued. Ayako threw some ideas forward, but even though Tada took them all gratefully, she knew they were useless ideas. But she felt kind of good participating. Tada's dedication to the class seemed really strong. She wondered what had triggered it, exactly. It wasn't as if he'd been part of the school since the beginning. She hadn't, either, so she couldn't figure it out at all. But all the same, it was nice to see.

When they reached the ground, Tada and Koujiro put down the wheelchair, as usual, and Jori helped Fuyumi into it again, before handing over her things, Then, Jori began pushing the wheelchair along the road, but it wasn't long before a stone got wedged in the wheel. Jori and Tada stopped to get it out, and told the others to go on ahead, as they'd be able to catch up soon. So that's what they did, continuing their chat as they did so.

"Hey, hey, Reno, are those people waiting for us?" Ayako heard Reimiya whisper almost fearfully to Reno.

"What people?" Ayako said, and then looked up ahead. Sure enough, there were three people standing near the end of the road, where Tada's sister would sometimes wait after school when she didn't have other commitments. The others noticed the strangers soon afterwards, and soon they were all buzzing about who these people could be.

"Excuse me," one of the strangers asked, stepping forward as they got closer. "But are you part of this year's Class 3E at Kunugigaoka Junior High?"

The person speaking was a male, a handsome (in the way some of her old friends' fathers were sure, but the good looks were undeniable) adult in his mid-forties. His hair was dark, his eyes a golden hazel, and although he had a friendly look to him, Ayako found herself feeling on edge. She glanced at the other two with this man. One was a tall female in a smart-casual trousers and pretty blue shirt, with her long and straight silvery-brown hair partially captured in a large clip. The other-golden haired-and-eyed male was even more handsome than the first, but in a cheekier way, if such a thing was possible. There was also something flashy about him. These two seemed to be a similar age to the man who had spoken.

"Yes, we are. What of it?" Reno asked, stepping forward and shielding Reimiya at the same time, looking somewhat fearsome. Reimiya, for her part, just stared at the three adults wide-eyed and stunned. Ayako doubted the rest of them looked any different in that moment.

"Got it right once again, Yuuma." The flashy man said to the first one, who gave a shrug. The first man shrugged.

"Ah, that's good. Do you think you would be willing to give us some of your tim-?" the man was cut off by Ruko, who had a cold look on her face.

"Why? Are you trying to get dirt on us to feed back to the main campus?"

"What? No, that's about as far from the truth-" the woman spoke up, but then stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she focussed on something behind Ayako's shoulder. Ayako turned to see Tada, Fuyumi and Jori walking towards them. Tada was ahead of the two girls, and jogging slightly. There was an expression on his face that was as odd as it was unreadable.

"It's okay, Ruko-Chan, everyone. These guys aren't working for the main campus at all. You can trust them." His voice had taken on a bizarre, shaky quality, and Ayako realised he was pale, almost shocked. _What the hell?_

"So who are they then?" Koujirou asked for all of them. Tada jogged until he was standing between the three adults and the rest of their little group, and ran a hand through his hair. Then, he pointed at each one in turn.

"That's Yuuma Isogai, she is Megu Kataoka, and the playboy over here is Hiroto Maehara." Judging by the wobbly laugh that followed 'playboy', this was some kind of in-joke. And the way Hiroto Maehara grinned and ruffled Tada's hair at that suggested that they'd known each other a long time. But that didn't explain what the three adults were doing them, nor how Tada knew them or even why he was so shocked at their presences.

"That still doesn't really tell us anything though." Jori pointed out.

"That's true. But Tada, are you okay?" Tsukuda asked with some concern, stepping forward in a fighting stance, clearly ready to take the adults on if it turned out they were enemies. "Did these guys do anything to you?"

If this had been a less serious situation, Ayako would have been whipping out her 'Class 3E files' and adding another point in favour of the Tada/Tsukuda ship. As it happened, she just waited with bated breath, just like her classmates, all wondering what would occur next.

Tada shook his head fiercely, as if outraged at the very idea, and this seemed to clear away a little of his fogginess. But his voice was still weird and shaky when he next spoke.

"They were in the same situation as us, but thirty years ago. That is to say, they attended Kunugigaoka Junior High, and were put into Class 3E in their third year."

"But how the flip do you know that?" Ayako burst out, jaw dropping to her feet. But even as she asked, her mind put together little bits of trivia she'd collected about Tada ever since meeting him in second year. But even as the bits of trivia formed a suspicion, she was still unprepared for the answer when it eventually came.

"Class 3E of Kunugigaoka, thirty years ago. That is the same class that my mother was in. "

 **And three members of the former 3E make their appearance! I wonder how many of you were expecting that XD? Anyway, with that scene, I was originally going to have it in Tada's POV, but I started thinking that the impact would be more visceral if we were seeing this through someone else's eyes- as in, someone who is friendly with Tada, but who knows nothing about Isogai et al. Which obviously meant another member of Tada's class- and Ayako in particular felt perfect for this. But next chapter, the scene will continue in Tada's viewpoint anyway- but enough of my babbling. Please leave feedback, and don't forget the Tumblr tag!**


	10. What If?

**Just a little headsup- this chapter and the next chapter will be quite 'talky'. Hope this doesn't cause too much frustration. So anyway, since I'm sure you're all super curious to know what Isogai et al are doing here, let's get on with the chapter!**

As soon as he'd told his classmates who Megu and the others were, Tada found himself dumbstruck as he just stared at them. All he could think about was the last time he'd seen them. A few days after his mother's funeral, Isogai had turned up on the doorstep with a large bowl of casserole and a bag of pastries, apologising for not having been able to come to the funeral and offer condolences. Megu and Maehara had attended the actual funeral, if the blur of faces that whizzed by in his mind were anything to go by. Tada'd had enough of funerals for a long time. He just hoped that Megu wasn't here with _more_ bad news.

"What are you even doing here, Tada-kun?" Megu asked, breaking the silence. "You don't even attend this school."

"I do now…" Tada said, at a loss. _Uh….I don't get this, at all._

"But why?!" Maehara exploded. "You weren't supposed to be here!"

"Aunt Chika thought it was a good idea at the time. Riverside's too far away, now we live with her. " Tada shrugged, aware he still sounded shaky. "It doesn't matter now. What's done is done…right, _Ikemegu_?"

He remembered the old name at the last minute, and managed to smile when it made Megu smile. She held out her arms, and as he stepped into her hug, he thought about being seven again, racing Hiro across a big grassy field towards a picnic blanket underneath a tree full of pink flowers.

"The cherry blossom viewings." He murmured into her chest. "Aren't you meant to be here for those, too?"

"Sure I am. That hasn't changed, even with the particular tragedies of this year. But this is something else that I do."

"So….uh, now, is anybody actually going to say what on earth is going on?" Ruko interjected. Tada twisted himself around so he was looking at his classmates. Understandably, they all had expressions varying from confused to suspicious. Even he didn't know what was happening here, why his mother's old friends had turned up.

"Of course, of course." Isogai said amicably. "As Tada-kun already said, we're former members of Kunugigaoka Junior High's Class 3E, and that we're fully aware of what being in that class means for all of you. We know that you're probably being picked on and bullied, that your teaching is probably nowhere near as good as what goes on in the main campus, and we also know that the stigma reaches beyond the school. All in all, you're pretty much left to fend for yourselves, with no help whatsoever. And that just makes things worse.

We actually got pretty lucky in our year, because even though we had to endure all of that, we were lucky to get teachers who actually did care about us, and did everything they could to try and help us to succeed, to be less isolated. But that doesn't always happen. Our class was really more of an exception than the norm. So we try to return the favour, in a way, and put ourselves forward as a form of support for 3E students, to try and help them any way that we can. Homework, exams, someone to let off steam with, anything really. "

 _So this is what it's all about._ Tada found himself feeling impressed, even as his mind scrambled, trying to fit in this new information with what he knew of his life.

"We try and do practical things, too." Maehara added. "Six years ago, your campus building was practically falling apart around the students, and your principal wouldn't do anything about it. He just ignored the problem, and even forbade the hiring of builders to fix it. So Yuuma over here called up one of our other 3E buddies and got him to fix it pro-bono, on the sly. All Okikura knows is that the building is still standing, and Class 3E continues."

"Fairly sure 'pro-bono' refers to when a lawyer offers his services for free." Tsukuda remarked sardonically, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. This made Isogai laugh.

"It applies here, too, in a way." He said, smiling at all of them. Fuyumi returned the smile readily, while some of the others hesitated before doing so.

"So….how does this helping work then?" Ruko asked. Tada noted her demeanour towards the three adults seemed less cold, now that they were making a case.

"Usually how it works is that we approach as many members of 3E as possible to establish contact." Megu explained. "I'm usually only in Japan for a month or so every spring, so it's Hiroto and Yuuma who run our informal mentoring scheme, but I help them at the beginning, especially with the initial contact. We try to do that within the first couple of weeks or so."

"So this is the established contact?" Ayako asked. Isogai nodded.

"Yes, it is. After we've done that though, we try and set up a more structured meeting, usually one evening after school in the Oceanfront café. That really just gets things going, and we try to get as many of the class members there as possible. Particularly the Class Reps- speaking of which, do any fo you happen to be the Class Representatives this year?"

Tada wriggled out of Megu's hug. "I am." He answered, walking back to stand next to Tsukuda. "And Hanae-Chan is too. Then there's a third- Eriko Fujisaki-Chan."

"I'm Hanae Tsukuda. Eriko's on class cleaning duty today." Tsukuda qualified.

The three adults blinked at them, clearly stunned. Maehara ran a hand through his hair absently while Isogai and Megu went bug-eyed.

" _Three_ of you?" Isogai said, stumped. "But that isn't allowed."

"It is now. We had the first Student Council meeting today. It was total crap, according to Tada-kun and the others, but about the only good thing that came from it is that now there are three voices speaking for us, and not just two." Ayako explained.

"Hah!" Maehara did a fist pump of victory. "That is awesome! 3E-one, Kunugigaoka-zilch!"

"I know, pretty great, right?" Tada laughed, finally feeling like the different sections of his brain had all been put back together.

"That is certainly heartening." Isogai agreed. "Odd, but heartening."

Tada proceeded to introduce the classmates who were present to the three of them. Once he'd managed to do that, Isogai, Maehara and Megu fielded more questions from them, and then negotiated a date for the first meeting at the Oceanfront café. When they finally came to an agreement, they decided on the day after the next. Then, Isogai gave their details to all of them , while Tada made sure the details he had for the three were up-to-date, while promising to forward said details to the students who hadn't been with them when Isogai and the others had appeared.

"And," Maehara declared. "I think that'll be all for now. Tada, you better not fall back out of touch now."

"I'm Class Rep. And you guys are basically our Class Mentors." Tada chuckled, returning the high-five Maehara offered. "I have no excuse to do that."

"Too right." Maehara laughed.

"Okay then, we won't hold you up any longer." Isogai said. "We'll be on our way, and hopefully we'll see most of you on Friday. It was good to meet you today. And Tada-kun, it was nice to run into you, as well. Say hello to Hiro-Chan for us all."

Tada nodded. "Of course. I'll definitely be there on Friday." Some of the others piped up with various goodbyes, and they all watched as the three walked away. Tada felt a peculiar sensation in his chest. _This is the past colliding with the present, isn't it?_ But these were friends of his mother, so it couldn't be a bad thing, And even if it was, if it meant that things could get better for his friends, he'd attempt to deal with it.

"Uh….." he turned to face his friends, wondering what to say. "I guess I'll send around a group email to our school email accounts so that everyone can know about this."

"Are you sure they can be trusted, Tada-san?" Jori asked.

"Ahh, I'm sure they can. " Fuyumi soothed before Tada could say anything. " They seemed nice to me."

"That's true, they did." Ayako agreed. "And I think that maybe they'll work harder because of Tada-kun, I mean, they seemed pretty pissed that you were here, you know, Tada-kun. And you went all weird when you saw them."

"Yeah, well…." Tada shrugged, embarrassed. _When did memories become so paralysing?_ Once he'd fully processed what had happened, he would try and explain it properly. He owed them that much.

"The best thing to do would surely to wait until Friday's meet-up, then we can get a better gauge of things." Tada decided after a moment.

"Okay then." Reno said. "I suppose that sounds good. Right, Miya-Chan?"

Reimiya nodded as she fiddled with her scarf. "We can go on Friday, right, Reno? If we asked Aunt Yuka…."

Reno ruffled her hair. "Sure, I'm sure Mum'll let us. Speaking of which, why don't we go home and ask her now?"

"Yeah!"

"I should be getting home too." Fuyumi said. This reminded Tada that he was carrying her things, and after they exchanged goodbye, they all went their separate ways, Tada walking with Jori and Fuyumi.

When he got home, neither Hiro nor Chika were home. He went upstairs, and changed into some casual clothes. Then, he tucked his mobile phone into his trouser pocket and returned downstairs, heading to the kitchen. He hunted in the cupboards for a snack, eventually settling on a chunk of cheese he found in the fridge. Once he'd found a plate for the cheese, he sat at the dining room table and began to nibble at the cheese, all while composing an email on his phone.

As he found everyone's email addresses and debated on what to type, he heard the door open. He paused to listen, and when the sounds he heard were minimal, he knew it was Hiro who'd just arrived. And sure enough, she appeared in the dining room a few moments later.

"So," she began. "You caused a bit of a stir today, I hear."

Tada went blank for a moment, before remembering the student council meeting. That had practically been eclipsed by the encounter with Isogai and the others, and now he thought of it, the controversies raised in that were still nothing in comparison to the surprise.

"I suppose I did. I like to think I shook things up." Tada grinned, and Hiro grinned back as she sat down next to Tada.

"You did. President Hasegawa was fuming, and at lunchtime he holed up with Otsuka-san. Oh, and Asami was pretty pissed off. But she didn't want to talk about it."

"Asami?" Tada queried, even as he filled in the blank space that the name had produced in his mind. _Hair clips. A familiar face. That feeling of having intruded on intimacy._

"Asami Aoshima. She's Class 3A's Female Class Representative. I think her sist-"

"Oh hell! Hana Aoshima-Chan's sister!" Tada exclaimed, finally getting it. He mentally face-palmed, his brain putting together the scene from the entrance ceremony, and the bitterness of the girl who'd managed to put a stop to the debate about having three class reps. Realising that the girl was Asami, and that she had a twin at the opposite end of the scale to her, put a new light onto her emotions. What that light revealed however, he was still unsure of. _How very odd._

"Yeah, thought so. So what are you doing now?"

"Well…" Tada paused. "Some of us had a rather interesting encounter today. With Yuuma-san, Megu-san and Hiroto-san."

Hiro blinked at Tada in disbelief. Tada tapped at his phone, waiting for her to respond to the names which were familiar. Which she did.

"You mean, as in our Ikemegu, Ikemen and Mae-san? Our ones, as in, Mama's old classmates?!" she shrieked once it had snuck in. "But we haven't seen them since….since, well, you know. What do you mean, you had an _encounter_?!"

Putting his phone down, Tada did his best to explain what had happened, and what it was Isogai, Megu and Maehara did.

"So, what do you make of all that?" he asked once he'd finished. Hiro frowned prettily.

"Why didn't we know about this? I mean, clearly this means the cherry blossoms aren't the only reason that Ikemegu bothers to fly back here every spring. As for Ikemen, and Mae-san…."

"Possibly because they never thought that we'd ever need to know." Tada guessed. Hiro nodded seriously, and pondered this for a moment, playing with the charms on her schoolbag. Then she came back with another question.

"So, this meeting on Friday. Could I come too?"

"But you're in Class A." the words came out unbidden, and Tada clapped his hands over his mouth, annoyed at his crassness. Hiro just nodded seriously at that.

"That's a point. But I want to help too…." She said wistfully.

"I know you do." Tada appealed, trying to undo his crassness. "But I don't know how many of the others will get that. They're already weirded out by our connection to them. And, you know, I want them to trust their informal mentoring scheme. It could help us. I'd like it to help us. "

"Hmm…."

"Oh, I know! After the meeting, when it happens, I'll tell you what happened and what we got told, for sure! Oh, and wait!" Tada picked up his phone again, and saved the email as a draft, and then went into his messages. Hiro watched him curiously.

"You now have three new messages!" he declared, once he was done. "You can talk to them yourself now, if you like. I think Ikemegu in particular will look forward to hearing from you."

This got a smile from Hiro, who stood up.

"Okay then. That's enough for me, for now. I'm going up now. Want to spar later?"

"Count me in!" Tada gave Hiro a thumbs up, which made her grin as she left. He watched her go, and then went back to the email, mind buzzing with all sorts of thoughts.

 **…**

With all the messages and emails coming in, Seijuro's mobile phone was practically having a seizure that night, vibrating constantly to the point that it was actually travelling across the table. It was incredibly irritating, particularly as he was busy with his book. He didn't really want to be involved in what seemed to be a crusade on Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko's part. Being Class Representatives didn't give them an automatic ticket to being respected in his mind, so he didn't need to listen to them.

But…

But it was amusing, watching the furore unfold through these messages and emails, and since he liked being amused, he continued to watch. Then there was the matter of Tada. The fact that these adults had mysteriously turned up was suspicious in itself, and that was definitely something he'd want to check out. But the fact that Tada _knew_ them, and apparently personally? That was something else utterly. He hadn't imagined for a moment that there'd be anyone else with past connections to a previous 3E. At least, not beyond the circumstances he was in, or those of the one he was looking for. It had briefly crossed his mind that perhaps then, Tada was the one he sought but no. Thirty years was too long ago.

Either way, the fact that something relating to this class had come up-something he hadn't foreseen or planned for- interested him greatly. So despite the fact he didn't want to be bothered with anyone else, he scrolled through the email chain, and found the button to make a reply. He wasn't about to get engaged in the speculations and rumours, but he was going to attend this meeting that Tada and the others had planned with the three adults. So he typed two simple words, and then pressed send.

 _I'm in._

 **…**

Hana didn't contribute to the lunchtime discussion that went on around her. Instead, she just ate silently, a bite at a time, and watched as the others did so. Today, Tsukuda had invited her to sit with her for lunch, and as usual, Hana had accepted. The others were mostly nice enough, and she had no reason to say no, not really. So she sat there, with Tada, Tsukuda, Tsuwabuki, Eriko, Kaori, Ruko, Ayako, Reno and Reimiya. Yukiyama sat a little further away, but was also with them, having been coaxed there by Tada.

Naturally, they were all talking about Isogai, Maehara and Megu, the three former member of a long-gone Class 3E. Clearly, even with all the email exchanges from the night before, this was still a hot topic. Not that she blamed any of her fellow class members for that. The moment she'd read that Tada actually knew these people, that his own mother had been their classmate; the first thing she had thought of was _Kei_. And she'd wanted to go up to him, right there and then, and tell him about this amazing thing, about how this world was actually so small and how there were so many amazing connections to be made and discovered. But of course, she couldn't. So instead, she'd spent last night alternating between her homework and replying to messages with neutral, non-committal words, before just lying in her bed sleeplessly and speculating.

And now, this lunchtime, they were talking about Isogai and the others again. This time, it was more about the practical details, of who was going and who wasn't, as not all of them had been able to decide that the night before. But she couldn't listen, not really. Because the more Tada waxed lyrical about these strangers, all she could wonder was: _Where were these people back then?_ Kei had never breathed a word, ever. He'd never told her anything about three adults who actually believed in them, who actually wanted to help them. He'd never said that anything like that had happened. Not at all.

Then again, during that year, he hadn't said much at all. So clearly, these people couldn't have helped.

 _But even so…._ she thought she should be bitter towards these people she hadn't met, these people who had clearly failed Kei. But even as she recalled the sound of a broken heart muffled by a heavy door, she thought of how things had been before, of the brother Kei had been before he'd ended up the way he was now. _Onii-san. Kei-Chan._ She just couldn't be bitter, when she thought of the before. But she was curious, all the same.

"Aoshima-san? Is something wrong? Aoshima-san?"

Hana blinked at Eriko, and then at the others, who were also looking at her. She looked down at her hands, and realised she was playing with the button that still remained on her blazer.

"I, erm, sorry!" she let out a few laughs, and then rubbed her head sheepishly. "I was just daydreaming. What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"You've barely said anything, Aoshima-kun." Tsuwabuki explained. "I think the others were wondering what you thought of all this."

"What…I think?"

"Yeah, Do you want to come with us tomorrow? Yuuma-san already told me that it doesn't matter how many of us attend the first meet up, so all of us are going to go." Tada asked.

"Not me." Yukiyama put in.

"Not Yukiyama-kun." Tada corrected, flashing a grin at the boy, who didn't react.

"I…" Hana thought. She thought of the door she could not enter, the one which had once concealed the worst kind of distress. _If I could find out, if I could find out just what made things the way they were…_

"Yes please. I'd like to come." She said, trying to sound decisive. Tsukuda grinned at her, and ruffled her hair in a way she'd come to like.

"Well, that's good then. I'll add your name to the list." Tada wrote something down, then looked back up and grinned at Hana. Hana smiled back, feeling a little more assertive. Tomorrow, she was hopefully going to get some answers. Answers that would hopefully get rid of the door and let her in.

 **…**

Friday came, and with it, an air of excitement. Even for those of them who had particular lessons that they really enjoyed, the time couldn't go fast enough, and they all fidgeted restlessly, willing the clock to tick faster. Even Ichijou noticed something amiss, but she didn't seem bothered enough to ask. Even if she had, they wouldn't have answered. Although not a single one of them had come out and said it, there was an agreement amongst them that until they'd had the meeting, they wouldn't breathe a word to Ichijou.

So when the bell rang signalling the end of the day, all of them who had agreed to attend the meeting burst out of the classroom and school building as fast as they could go without saying anything to Ichijou. Tada almost felt sorry for her, as she did look rather perplexed when it happened. But he didn't dwell on it too long.

"Ayako-Chan, hurry up!" Tada said, reaching the bottom of the hill first. Tsukuda and Hana joined him next, while Kuroba and Izzy strolled behind them.

"Yeah, hurry up!" Ruko teased, being the next one to get there. "You're with us, you can't get yourself lost!"

Ayako, who had been debating something with Haru, Eriko and Kaori, just stuck her tongue out at them, but all the same, she sped up a little, and got to the bottom at the same time as the others- Reno, Reimiya, Kinomoto and Tsuwabuki- and they all set off. Although Kuroba talked to Izzy, Ayako continued her conversation and Ruko weaved in-between all of them causing friendly havoc, they were largely silent as they walked to the Oceanfront café, where they were due to meet Isogai, Megu and Maehara at 4:30pm.

"Ah, Tada-kun, the road's this way!" Reno pointed out.

"Right, I knew that." Tada said, embarrassed that he'd almost just gone the wrong way. He should have known this, after all. Then again, the last time he'd been near the café he hadn't been paying all that much attention to his surroundings…

"Do you think they'll be there already?" Hana asked, eyes wide. Tada shrugged, checking the time. It was just approaching 4:15pm, so they were more or less early.

"Well, Yuuma-san gets quite busy in his day-job, although he does try to be early. Hiroto-san's job is more flexible, but he has…erm…other commitments. Megu-san might be there, as she's really here on holiday." _Well, this time it was a cross between holidaying and funeral attending, but it would be pedantic of me to point that out._ "So one of them'll be there, for sure."

"Other commitments?!" Ayako all but leaped on that particular part of Tada's answer. "What do you mean? Family, friends, lovers? Or maybe gambling or online shopping or video games….?"

"Does it actually matter?" Kaori pointed out. "They're adults with their own lives and stuff."

"Of course it matters! We're going to meet them, and it's interesting anyway. Aren't you even slightly curious?"

"You talk too much." Kuroba said mildly. Ayako gave him a bug-eyed look and shut up immediately. Tada sighed. Kuroba did have that effect on people, and it was becoming more apparent. Izzy didn't help either, the way he grinned at it all.

"Let's just go in…." Tada said as they reached the friendly looking establishment. Luckily, nobody protested, and they went in. Once actually inside, it wasn't difficult to see why the café had been named 'Oceanfront'. From the way the wall was painted, to the various framed paintings on the wall and the blue-and-green colour scheme, everything screamed 'the sea' at them all. Even the shape of the padded seats seemed to suggest waves.

"Are you 3E students?"

The waitress who appeared in front of them had a hesitant but kind look in her bright eyes, and her smile was friendly. Her name tag read 'Fumiko'.

"Yes, we are." Eriko answered for them. Fumiko's smile became wider.

"Ah, thought so. Kataoka-san's already here, so if you go over there." She pointed to the back of the café, and sure enough, Megu was there. Spotting them, she waved, and Tada waved back.

"Okay. Thank you."

"No problem! I hope the rest of your year goes well. " Fumiko winked at them, and then went back behind the counter. Tada and the others walked over to the table where Megu was waiting. She was dressed in a similar way to the last time they'd met, in a blouse and suit trousers. There were cakes and other treats already on the table. Megu herself held a cup of tea.

"Hey, Ikemegu." Tada greeted, as he sat down. Tsukuda sat down next to him, while Eriko sat on his other side. The others all scrambled to find seats.

"So how are all of you today?" Megu asked.

"We're fine." Eriko answered. Tada said the same thing, and others did so too, while others remained silent.

"That's good, that's good. Yuuma and Hiroto will be here very soon."

"We're a little early anyway, so it's fine, really." Tada said. He paused for a moment, and then spoke again.

"Hey, Megu-san, was that nice waitress who pointed you out to us one of the students you helped in the past?"

"Say, can we eat those? They _really_ look like they need to be eaten. Like, _really_. " Ruko asked at the same time, metaphorically drooling over some of the sweet treats splayed out on the table.

" _That's_ your major concern right now?" Tsuwabuki said sardonically. The look Ruko gave him suggested that his words may as well have been in Swahili for all the relevance they had to her.

"To answer both your questions, yes, you may eat those. All of you can, for that matter. It's all on us. But don't expect this every time we meet during the year. As for Fumiko-Chan, yes, she was, but let's wait for Yuuma and Hiroto to get here before I tell you the story." Megu's tone was both slightly scolding and very affectionate, and Tada smiled at the familiarity.

"That sounds good to me." Tada looked at the various food items, and found a pretty iced cupcake he liked the look of.

"Tada-san, aren't you going to introduce us?" Reimiya asked in a stage whisper as she snagged two slices of strawberry cake- one for her, and one for Reno. Tada looked over at her and grinned at her cautious expression.

"That would be a good idea, wouldn't it?" Tada said. "Ah! Megu-san, this is Eriko-Chan, the third class representative."

"Ah, I thought so. Pleased to meet you, Fujisaki-san." Megu held out a hand for Eriko to shake, which she did.

"You should just call me Eriko. It's less confusing that way."

"Oh, how so?"

"My surname is also Fujisaki." Kaori explained. "I'm Kaori. Our teacher thought we were siblings. "

"But they'd never even MET until the first day!" Tsukuda added. Kaori nodded vigorously at that.

At that, Megu laughed. "Oh, I see, I see. Okay, I'll remember that. "

Tada and Eriko continued with the introductions, and mid-way, Isogai and Maehara arrived, so Haru repeated the introductions, only more concisely. Once that had finished, and they'd managed to shift around to get space for everyone, Isogai cleared his throat.

"Right then, let's begin this thing." Isogai paused, clearly searching for words.

"Yuuma, you don't need to get nervous." Maehara teased. Megu elbowed him in the solar plexus, and he winced for a moment before grinning as normal.

"So, tell us what your teacher is like. What sort of person is he or she, and how are they treating you?" Isogai asked.

"Why'd ya need to know?" munching a mouthful of pudding, Ruko didn't sound nearly as antagonistic as she'd done the last time she's spoken to the adults. She didn't _look_ antagonistic either. _It's the influence of the pudding._ Tada restrained from face-palming at this observation.

"Because sometimes we involve the teachers on this thing. Sometimes, they're actually dedicated to their students, despite the circumstances of the class, so they actually want to help. So we coordinate things like specific study groups with the teacher."

"Makes sense." Ruko shrugged.

"Ichijou-sensei is….well, she's _old_." Ayako laced the last word with particular contempt, causing all three adults to stare at her.

"Explain?" Megu demanded levelly.

"She seems nice enough- like, she talks to us kindly and stuff, but she isn't really good at being a teacher. She's sort of forgetful, absent minded- really absent minded. She falls asleep during lessons, and sometimes just leaves us to do her own work so she can have a nap. Oh, and the P.E. lessons! Tada, explain about the P.E lessons!" Tsukuda exclaimed.

"Our first day, first P.E lesson, Ichijou-sensei just asked us what games we'd want to play. She didn't change into appropriate clothes, and seemed pretty confused. In the end, she agreed to let us treat it as another free period, and that's what we've been doing all this time."

"Which is great at times," Haru put in. "Because sometimes we've managed to get homework done at school instead of at home, and other times it's like having an extended break, which is really fun. But P.E is still a lesson, and even if it isn't an examined topic, we all want to learn!" Haru's last line was delivered passionately, and she stared at Isogai pleadingly.

"Yeah, Haru-Chan pretty much summed our feelings on the matter. When we had our first Class Reps meeting, I tried to persuade the student council president that we should get another teacher for P.E, but we were refused. Which doesn't make sense, since you guys had two teachers, but I didn't tell them that because….well, 3E, and Mum."

"Excuse me? Two teachers? What?" Ayako treated Tada to another one of her bug-eyed looks.

"Hmm, two teachers huh? And this was thirty years ago?" Izzy pretended to stroke his invisible beard in a thoughtful manner. _What's with him?_

"Usually, 3E gets the rookie teachers, or volunteers who want to work with kids but don't have teaching experience." Isogai explained before Ayako (or anyone else for that matter) exploded. "In our case, we had a government employee with a faith crisis of sorts on a sabbatical, and a young socialite whose guardian wanted her to experience spending time with those in some sort of deprivation before she went on this luxury round-the-world trip she had planned."

"So, basically, in terms of teaching, we had two halves of one person." Maehara added. "But we got lucky, because they actually gave a shit about what we had to deal with. So they didn't teach us in the conventional way, but we learned, all the same."

"It looks like this year Principal Okikura decided to go the other way, and saddle you with a teacher on the verge of retirement, instead."

"More like the verge of _senility_." Ruko muttered darkly, although her eyes were mischeivious. Ayako cackled at this, while Tsuwabuki gently rebuked both girls.

"You had a _government employee_ as a teacher?" Izzy demanded. "Thirty years ago?"

"He was on a sabbatical." Megu said hurriedly. "And it wasn't like he did anything exciting. Mostly admin stuff. Paperwork."

"Really, you're sure of that?" Izzy seemed hell-bent on something, and all their attention went to the boy. Tada felt chills for reasons he could not name. "You're absolutely sure? Even though this was the very same year that the moon blew up?"

"That was coincidence." Maehara said.

"It was all over the news, sure, but that's it really. The fact we were in that class didn't have anything to do with that event."

"One hell of a concidence, don't you think?"

"Someone's been spending time with Yamada-kun." Tsuwabuki remarked, deadpan. He was largely ignored, but Tada heard him and thought, _that's probably it. And so what if Mum's class occurred at the same time as this moon incident? Surely lots of different things occurred back then. The world is full of people. So it's just a coincidence. Not even a special one._

 _But if that's true….why does Yuuma-san's voice sound shaky now? It's faint, but I notice it. And I think Izzy-kun does, too._

"Hey, hey, Tada-Chan, if they're not going to say anything, what about you? Don't you know anything?"

"Izzy, you're talking crap." Tsukuda stated. "Cut it out."

Izzy tilted his head at her and gave her a toothy, almost savage smile. Then he straightened up and shrugged. Kuroba gave him an odd, concerned look.

"Izzy, what was that about?"

"Ah, don't worry, Sei-Chan, I'll tell you later." Izzy drawled casually. Kuroba accepted this.

"Erm….could we get back on track, please. I don't want all this focus on what class they were in just because of my mum…"

Maehara clapped his hands once, decisively. "Tada's right! Now, about the P.E lesson, I think the best thing to do is this…"

And Maehara swiftly changed the subject by outlining a plan to deal with the P.E lessons, whereby the most athletic students, or those who had a special talent in some sort of sport, taught the rest of the class what they knew, rotating on a weekly or daily basis dependent on what suited them better. The others accepted this idea, and Eriko pulled out a piece of paper from her bag on which to write out a rough rota which they could follow. After some haggling, they decided that Eriko would teach Kendo, Tsukuda and Tada would teach self-defence/ physical combat, Koujiro would teach athletics, and Jori would deal with gymnastics, with verbal/admin help from Fuyumi. They kept this plan rough, so that they could discuss and confirm it properly with the rest of their class members when they went back into school on Monday.  
Reno surprised them all by making the suggestion that once in a while they did have 'games', just for fun, or to let off steam. Reimiya added to this by wondering if hide-and-seek was a good game, because of all the running and hiding. All three adults seemed to find the idea very pleasing, Isogai going so far as to produce a rough map of the school's forest on his phone, to point out some of the best hiding places they could use.

Then, they moved on to the issue of Fuyumi's access to the school. This one was trickier for the adults to solve. As a good portion of the path could be seen by the public, any explicit changes would be noticed, and surely reported back. And as Isogai kept stressing, secrecy had a big role in what they did. They thought about it, and then Megu remembered that there had been a wheelchair bound boy in a Class 3E from around fifteen years back, and when she remembered that Isogai recalled how they'd put up temporary ramps in the school building. So they'd just have to do that again. It wouldn't solve the problem of getting her to and from school, but it would help her get around the building. Once that had been figured out, Eriko offered to be the one to pick them up and then they'd be able to put them in on Monday, and Tada quickly sent a message to Fuyumi so she wouldn't be out of the loop, especially as this particular issue was about her.

Just as they got to the end of that particular discussion, Fumiko came over to chat, and she told them a little about herself, and how she'd been in the Class 3E of thirteen years before, and how meeting with Maehara and Isogai every week over the school year had boosted her confidence enough to apply for a high school that specialised in hospitality and catering. She'd managed to get in, and now she was here, working in a café she'd opened with her two best friends and the man who was now her fiancé. Hearing the story, Tada changed his mind about the café's name. It wasn't pretentious, not at all. How could it be, when it was the manifestation of a dream, and one sent with friends to boot? After she'd managed to extract herself from Ayako's eager questioning about the creation of Oceanfront, they talked about a few other less major things that had come up while making short work of the sweets still on the table. Isogai, Maehara and Megu offered solutions readily, but also gently nudged them all into coming up with some of ideas for themselves, which everyone seemed to respect them for.

And then Kuroba asked a question which made them all fall into silence.

"If you're so passionate about all of this, why the covertness? Why not directly challenge the principal?"

Seijuro leaned back and looked arrogantly confident, as if accusing the three adults of something while waiting to see how they'd defend themselves from this silent accusation. Isogai blinked, Maehara gritted his teeth, and Megu went pale as she muttered something about atonement. Tada was surprised at the change.

"Hey, Ikemegu…Yuuma-san, Hiroto-san…." Tada exchanged looks with his friends. Kuroba looked mildly bemused, Izzy looked confused, and the others had various degrees of curiosity and worry in their expressions. But the moment didn't last very long, with Maehara the first to snap out of it.

"I suppose that would be the legacy of being under Principal Asano's rule." He said, laughing awkwardly.

"That's true. Both Tomoya Okikura and Gakuho Asano are essentially men who enjoy preying on the weak, and will do their best to cling onto those opportunities. The difference between them is that that is all there is to Okikura, whereas in Asano's case it was born from a severe obsession with education. And Asano was a seriously smart, manipulative and fearsome man." Isogai added.

Megu nodded at this. "Encountering him was always like a game of wits, but a dark one. He really did give off this aura of threat….and he could follow through on that threat easily. Sure, we won a little respect because of how we handled out year, but not enough to be seen as an equal to him. So even as we grew up, he still had a hold over us. That's why, when we started to help the later 3E students, we kept it secret. As long as Asano was around, we could never be open in our intentions. Never. Otherwise we'd all be under threat, and where would any of the ones we helped be now?"

"Was?" Kinomoto queried.

"He suffered from early-onset dementia, and died about seven years ago. Otherwise he'd still be principal now."

"But his rule remains." Tsukuda stated, flatly. "Why? Couldn't it have been abolished?"

"We're not sure," Megu said. "But we think he passed Kunugigaoka onto Okikura in his will, while he still had some of his mental faculties. And as Yuuma said, Okikura also preys on the weak. Sure, he doesn't have Asano's intelligence, but I think Asano would prefer things the way they are now, to having 3E abolished."

"Like Yuuma said," Maehara pointed out. "This is Asano's legacy. It's a difficult one to escape. More so for us, I guess. Why else would we return to the class, year after year?" Maehara laughed self-depreciatingly, but it was clear that the late principal was something all three adults not only detested, but truly feared too.

"So nothing really changed then." Ruko bluntly stated.

"No." Megu's single word was laced with regret, one that clearly went deep. It was enough that nobody responded to it. Even Seijuro seemed less smug about things.

"The fact that the old principal had dementia is really quite sad." Haru commented eventually, stopping the silence from being awkward. "I mean, he sounds like an awful person, but that really is a tragic way to go."

"Any death is sad." Hana remarked, her sing-song voice lilting more than normal. Tada gave her a closer look, noting the way she'd been studying the three adults and recalling how she had barely said anything.

"Well, it is only a year, for us. And you're all trying your best given the situation." Kinomoto said agreeably, distracting Tada.

"That's optimistic of you." Megu said. "And probably that's a good thing to keep in mind."

"Yes, that's right!" Isogai agreed, smiling at them all. "Whatever you do over the year, keep on the bright side, and don't give up on hope. Sure, that's kind of cheesy, but it is true."

"We'll remember that!" Tada said. Maehara winked at him.

"So…." Isogai said. "I think we've pretty much covered most of what we needed to, so maybe we should wrap this thing up. Are there any more questions?"

"And NOT about _our_ class." Maehara flippantly put in, giving Izzy a meaningful look. Izzy just shrugged as if to say 'who, me?'. And then Hana put her hand up slightly, as if they were in class.

"Ah, Aoshima-san, was it?" Isogai beamed warmly. "You can just ask, it's fine. What did you want to know?"

"I…erm…Kei Aoshima. Three years ago." Hana's voice trembled. "Do you remember him?"

 _Kei Aoshima? Hana-Chan's sister is Asami, so that can't be who she's talking about….another sibling?_

"I, yes, sure we do, a little?" Maehara looked at Isogai for confirmation. Isogai nodded.

"Sure." Isogai was about to say something else, but he stopped midway. "Oh. Right. Hana Aoshima. You're one of Aoshima-kun's little sisters."

Hana nodded at that. She opened her mouth and looked at them beseechingly as if she was going to ask them something else, but words seemed to fail her. Tsukuda put a hand on her shoulder, looking at the smaller girl with concern.

"How about you ask us what you need afterwards, when the others are gone?" Megu suggested kindly, leaning in so that Hana would look up and meet her eyes. Hana hesitated, and then nodded.

"In that case." Tada said. "I think we can consider ourselves finished, Yuuma-san. Thanks for this."

"Yes, thank you!" Haru said effusively, reaching over to shake their hands. "I somehow feel better about being in 3E now."

"Not a problem. And remember, this isn't the only meeting you'll have with us. We'll meet a lot over the school year- just let us know when you need us and we'll arrange something." Isogai said.

"In my case, you'll be limited to phoning and the internet, but I'm still available to help." Megu pointed out. "It was good to meet you all."

Everyone, save from Hana, got up and began to leave. Tsukuda hung back briefly to ask Hana if she was sure she'd be fine, and Tada paused to witness this. Most of them stopped at the counter to say goodbye to Fumiko, who affectionately grabbed each of them into hugs before letting them go on their way.

Once outside, they all exchanged goodbyes and headed in the directions of their own homes. Tada decided to do the same, and then paused and changed his mind. He was near the hospital, so he could use the time to visit Karasuma. So that is what he did.

When he reached the hospital room, Hiro was already there, in the clothes she used for dance, with her school shirt thrown over as a jacket. She was reading to Karasuma from a book she had, and looked up when Tada entered.

"Oh my, are our twin powers at work again?" she teased. Tada chuckled. _This isn't like the last time we both sat with Karasuma-sensei._

"Sure seems like it." He said, dragging a chair to sit down on, since Hiro had taken the chair he usually took. "How was club?"

"Same old, same old." She said, folding the page she was on and closing the book. Then she tilted her head at Tada. "How was the meet?"

"Ah, now that was pretty interesting. " Tada said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell me about it then?" Hiro asked, looking a little sceptical. Tada didn't like that she looked sceptical, so he pouted to diffuse the feeling.

"Of course. Actually, I'm going to tell Karasuma-sensei about it." He decided.

"You're fine with that, right?" he asked Karasuma's sleeping form. "I mean, I have no idea if you even knew that Megu-san does this with Yuuma-san and Hiroto-san all the time….I'm sure you must have, because you talked to everyone from Mum's class….anyway, I'll just get on with it, shall I?"

Without waiting for a confirmation that he should indeed get on with it, he dove straight into retelling the events of the meeting at the Oceanfront café, putting it together as though it was a bedtime story. And as he did so, he thought of all the different feelings that had surfaced in that meeting. Sadness, hope, reluctance, frustration. And fear. Most of all fear. Some of it understandable for the simple reason that surely these fears were shared by all those who had to deal with being part of 3E. Others, less so.

 _Isogai blinked, Maehara gritted his teeth, and Megu went pale as she muttered something about atonement. Tada was surprised at the change._

" _Hey, Ikemegu…Yuuma-san, Hiroto-san…." Tada exchanged looks with his friends. Seijuro looked mildly bemused, Izzy looked confused, and the others had various degrees of curiosity and worry in their expressions. But the moment didn't last very long, with Maehara the first to snap out of it._

" _I suppose that would be the legacy of being under Principal Asano's rule." He said, laughing awkwardly._

He may have never met Principal Asano, but the stories he'd heard were enough for him to feel the same feelings his mother and her friends must have felt back then. And being explicitly told about the way Asano worked, and the feelings he instilled in people also had an impact.

Yet….

Tada couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Kuroba had a point when he'd asked his painful questions. Perhaps he should have had more sympathy, but his position was still valid.

" _If you're so passionate about all of this, why the covertness? Why not directly challenge the principal?"_

"Tada?"

Tada blinked, and realised that not only had he stopped talking, he couldn't remember where he had been when he'd started thinking of the monster he'd never met.

"Say, Karasuma-sensei, Hiro, I was wondering something."

"You were?" Hiro tilted her head again, curiously this time. "What is it?"

" _Well, it is only a year, for us. And you're all trying your best given the situation." Kinomoto said agreeably, distracting Tada._

"Well…." Tada started, before pausing for a moment. _Sure, Class 3E only exists because of Principal Asano, but we're not as impacted by him as others would have been. And sure, we only need to deal with this for the rest of third year, but what of the future? How long do arbitrarily picked bunches of fourteen and fifteen year olds need to suffer for, just because of some dead monster's legacy? By now, is it not time to fight back? I think it is._

"What if, instead of just changing our circumstances, we changed the circumstances of any other 3E that may happen? What would you both think if I said I wished to do that? What would you say if I decided to eradicate 3E once and for all? Because that's what I'm going to do. What we're going to do. We're going to end the End Class for the final time."

 **So, what do you think about all of that? I brought up a whole lot of different issues and subplots, and I'm guessing that some of you'll be rather confused. I do intend to develop these things further as the story goes on, but if you do have any questions you can still ask me and I'll answer as much as I can without spoiling anything. But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please do leave feedback, as usual. And don't forget the Tumblr tag! I'm still tracking ' Ending the End Class' and I really would like to see everybody's fanart for this fic!**


	11. Hero no Jouken

"Hey, Akira-Chan, how's the writing going?"

Tada sat down on the steps next to Akira, and pushed her still untouched lunchbox a little closer to her before sitting down. Akira looked up at him and glared, snapping her notebook shut.

"I'm not showing you!" she declared. Tada laughed as he opened his lunchbox and took a sandwich out. He bit into it, and chewed for a while.

"Relax, I'm not going to look." He said when he had swallowed. "But, maybe you'd like to have a look at something of mine?" This seemed to pique Akira's interest, as she didn't just go straight back to writing.

"You write too? You never told me this."

"That's because I don't write," he corrected. "I draw." He picked up his sketchbook, which he'd put down next to him. He didn't usually bring his sketchbook in, but he'd decided to do so today. There was no particular reasoning to this, but he liked the idea of showing his friends his work. And somehow, it was fitting that it would be Akira he showed the drawings to first.

"Draw?" Akira looked at the sketchbook in Tada's hand, clearly itching to take it and flick through, but too polite to actually do so. "What kind of drawings?"

"Ah, sort of manga comic style. Not actual panels or strips, but yeah, that kind of style. I mostly draw this comic-book type hero that I like, but sometimes I draw random things."

"I didn't think you were into comic books." Akira sounded utterly confused and just a little betrayed, and she looked that way too. Tada chuckled, baffling her more.

"Ah, no. The Distant Ocean isn't a hero I saw in a comic book. He's from some bed-time stories Hiro and I got told as a child. Here, take a look." He handed the sketchbook to Akira, who instantly began looking at the pictures, studying them with deep interest.

A calm quiet settled over them, the only immediate sounds being that of the pages getting flicked, and the noises of eating food. In the background, Eriko, Kaori, Ruko, Haru, Jori, Fuyumi, Reimiya and Ayako were giggling about something as they wandered near the forest, Kuroba and Izzy were playing shogi on the grass, with Tsukada, Hana, Hirigi, Reno and Koujiro egging them on. Azama and Tsuwabuki could be heard teaching Yamada to climb the cherry tree, while Kinomoto and Haru sat nearby discussing the flowers they could plant in their class's flower beds. Only Kitabayashi and Yukiyama were silent, and that was because both of them were somewhere further away, each of them alone.

"This 'Distant Ocean' seems pretty interesting. I like your drawings of him. I can kind of get a feel for what type of person he is." Akira decreed after a while. She paused and thought for a moment.

"You said that you got him from a bed-time story?"

"Yeah. When we were little, our god-father used to tell us these stories about the hero who managed to be heroic without ever getting involved in the circumstances of those he saved. I came up with the name though. It's more like an alias, but it fits, I think."

"Hmm…." Akira pretended to think, then giggled unexpectedly. "It does sound cheesy, but it sort of fits."

"Hey!" Tada pretended to be offended. "The Distant Ocean is _not_ cheesy!" Akira giggled some more , and then narrowed her eyes at him.

"Say, does your comic-book hero, as you seem to think of him, have anything to do with why you, Tsukuda-san and Eriko-san have been so secretive this past week?"

"Nope." He answered honestly. Sure, he'd found himself thinking that the idea he'd come with-to permanently get rid of Class 3E as a concept-would mean being the opposite of The Distant Ocean, in a lot of ways. In a way, the analogy was inspiring. But he wasn't trying to be like something from a comic book or a bedtime story. He was just trying to do something good, along with his friends. _I'm just trying to make this school year worth enduring. I'm just trying to make the experiences of the people I was brought up with mean something. That's all. That isn't heroic._

"Really?" Akira looked sceptical.

"You'll find out after school today." He declared, grinning. "You all will." This was true. After he'd had the revelation at the hospital last week, he'd spent most of the night questioning his sanity with Hiro, who had been supportive about the idea. Then, he'd been messaging Tsukuda and Eriko back and forth, discussing how best to get everyone else in the class on board. In the end, they'd decided that they'd need to hold a whole-class meeting. And today was the day they'd set for the meeting. All the others knew was that their Class Reps had something important to tell them which required this meeting, but apart from that, they were in the dark.

Akira pouted. "Okay then, fine. In that case, tell me a story."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Akira handed back Tada's sketchbook. "A story. One of those bedtime stories that inspired these drawings. Tell me one, please."

"Okay, sure." Tada looked through all his old drawings, going back and forth. Finally, he settled on one, and looked at it.

"He'd known something wasn't right for days. If somebody had come up to him and asked him how he knew this, or why he'd felt it, he wouldn't have been able to say. But since he did know…"

It didn't take long for Tada to get completely lost in the story, remembering it the more he spoke, and adding his own embellishments easily. He leaned back a little to get more comfortable, but apart from that, the real world more or less ceased to exist as he spoke. All the same, when he reached the end, his throat was dry and he found himself a little out of breath, so he gulped down his bottle of water and took a moment. _I'd forgotten what these stories felt like..._

"So," he asked, putting his bottle down. "What did you think, Akira-Chan?" he turned to look at Akira. She was staring at him, absolutely entranced. Her eyes were wide and her mouth gaped slightly in astonishment.

"Uh…Akira-Chan?" He noticed that some of the background noises had quietened, and he looked up only to find that most of his classmates were staring at him too.

"I…erm….okay…" Tada became embarrassed, and lost any words he may have had. Akira blinked, and shook her head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. That was just really good."

"I…erm, thanks. Good to know you liked it." Tada laughed awkwardly.

"Good? Tada-kun, that was great! I didn't know you were good at telling stories!" Ayako exclaimed. Near to Ayako, Yukiyama could be seen, regarding Tada coolly. He couldn't tell what Yukiyama was thinking, but the fact he'd come to see what was happening said a lot.

"Okay, so now it's finished, I realised the actual story itself had a disappointing lack of yaoi, but while you were telling it I didn't even notice." Ruko added to this, winking at Tada.

"You're a wizard." Azama commented, calm as ever as he ambled away from the tree and towards Tada. Everyone sweat-dropped as the attention turned to him.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tada asked eventually. Azama didn't seem to take note of his bafflement, instead just standing calmly and smiling slightly.

"You weave magic with words. That makes you powerful, and you're sure to go far." Azama explained. _Somehow, that doesn't explain anything!_

"Magic? Wizards?" Kuroba asked derisively. "You must be deluded. There is no such thing."

"Oh, but there _is_ such a thing as magic!" Hana rhapsodised, a dreamy expression on her face. "Not things like wizards or witches or any of the beings and worlds that you'd find in the pages of a fantasy novel, but there _is_ magic. Like looking up at the night-sky and seeing how pretty the stars are, or all the other different aspects of nature, or the way you feel when you set eyes on someone who is precious to you, or losing track of time when you're absorbed in your favourite activity, or when something happens to make you see the world in a new way. Or getting utterly entranced by a story, like we all just did now! Those things are magic, and they're all parts of life. So that's real magic!"

"I think I have to agree with little Aoshima-Chan." Izzy shrugged. Continuing to regard Hana, he patted Kuroba on the shoulder in a manner similar to comforting a disgruntled child.

"Sorry, Sei-Chan." He looked at Kuroba long enough to flash a unrepentant grin at Kuroba, before returning to his observation of Hana, who had drifted back to Tsukuda, looking lost once again. Clearly, Hana had caught Izzy's interest in some way after her little impassioned speech.

"No, it's fine. Certainly that was a …interesting viewpoint. I might actually consider it if that's the case."

 _If it had been anyone else who'd said that they didn't agree with Kuroba so blithely, they'd get shot down for sure!_ Tada was sure everyone else thought this.

"Tell us another story then, Tada!" Tsukuda cried out, grinning at him. "I want to hear one! I think everyone else does too, right?"

If Tada had been the blushing type, he would have probably gone bright red. He enjoyed sharing his stories, but he had never done it to such a large audience before. Usually he told the stories to Hiro, or a small group of his Riverside friends, and more recently, a comatose Karasuma. This was new for him. _I wonder if my story-telling does something to Karasuma-sensei too, if it has this effect on the waking world._ He supposed it counted as good practise for later (as it probably meant that they'd all listen to him when he proposed his idea), but he found himself very glad when Eriko stepped forward to say something, taking the attention off him.

"I am intrigued, sure." Eriko agreed. "But, unfortunately, it is coming to the end of lunchtime." She looked at her watch to emphasise this. Everybody groaned, and they all started to head inside for the next lesson.

 **…**

"Oh my? How come you're all here?" Ichijou stopped and stared as she entered the classroom, only to see all 23 members of her class sitting at their desks. "I thought you would have gone home after changing and tidying."

"We talked about this before, Ichijou-sensei, remember?" Eriko stepped in patiently. "We're holding a whole-class study group, and we decided the classroom was the best place."

Ichijou blinked, clearly processing this. Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko had told Ichijou this. When Tada had told them of his idea, Tsukuda had been the first to point out that they couldn't use the classroom without Ichijou being told in some way. So they'd eventually come up with the idea of telling her that it was a study group they were running, as opposed to a strategy meeting on how to get rid of their class. And naturally, she had forgotten.

"Ah, right, I think I remember…..well then, I'll just get these files here and go back to the staffroom….."

"Ah, Ichijou-sensei!" Haru leapt up. "I'll help you carry those." She went to the desk to pick up the pile of files Ichijou was referring to, and smiled beatifically.

"Ah, you're a sweet child, Ichinose-san. Thank you so much." With that, both Ichijou and Haru left the room. Although Tada felt bad about it, he sagged with relief once Ichijou was out of earshot. _Thanks, Haru-Chan._

"Teacher's pet." Ayako rolled her eyes while making this comment, but she smiled too.

"But it seems to actually help." Hirigi commented. "Or Ichijou would just be umming and ahhing for centuries and we'd never get home."

Tada couldn't help but laugh at this. Tsukuda cackled, and Eriko just smiled before clapping her hands decisively.

"Okay, let's get this started. Ichinose-san shouldn't take too long. Tada-san?" Tada nodded at Eriko, and went to the blackboard. Choosing a suitable piece of chalk, he put it to the board, and wrote the name he'd given to his idea on it in big letters.

 _ENDING THE END CLASS_

He circled it twice for emphasis. Then, as an afterthought, rubbed out the circle, wrote the same words in English and in a smaller font underneath the larger letters before circling both sets of lettering again. _Hopefully, that'll help Kitabayashi-kun,_ he figured, knowing that the smaller boy hadn't spent long enough in Japan to have a good grasp of Kanji, no matter how good his spoken Japanese was.

"Ending….the End Class?" Hirigi was the first to speak up. "What does that mean?"

"End Class is obviously talking about this class, silly!" Ayako exclaimed. "E for End and all that?"

"Ah, that does make sense in a way." Kinomoto agreed.

"All right, all right, don't treat me like I'm stupid!" Hirigi protested.

"There's no need for that, Hirigi-kun." Tsuwabuki said soothingly, to which Hirigi just glared. "So, Eriko-kun, Tsukuda-kun, Tada-kun, are you going to explain what this is about?"

"Of course we are-ah, good timing, Haru!" Tsukuda winked at the blond girl, who had just come back in. Haru beamed back and then took her seat.

"It isn't anything particularly complicated." Eriko said. "Simply put, the three of us have been discussing our situation as members of 3E, and also just generally what being part of Kunugigaoka's 3E means, especially in the light of meeting Isogai-san and the others. And when we talked about it, we realised that what we're doing isn't going to be enough."

"But Eri-Chan, I thought you were all going to do your best for us this year." Kaori looked slightly concerned.

"We _are_ going to help this class get through the year." Eriko clarified. "That hasn't changed. Tada-san, maybe you should explain this bit."

"Sure thing!" Tada took a step forward. "So, we still want to find ways of making this year manageable for us, to make it better. And sure, we've got Yuuma-san and Megu-san and Hiroto-san for that, so it's not as if we're going to suffer alone. But, that isn't enough, like Eriko-Chan said. Think about it. What about the other classes, the other 3Es that come after us? Once we're gone, things will just revert to how they were, and if that's the case, there would have been no point in our year, none at all. "

"So, does that mean you're aiming for something higher?" Haru asked.

"That's exactly it!" Tada smiled encouragingly. "We're aiming to do something a _lot_ higher. I suppose you could refer it to changing the future."

"Well, are you going to tell us what you're going to do?" Ruko demanded, looking excited.

"The answer's right there!" Tsukuda exclaimed, pointing to the board upon which Tada had written.

"Ahhh." Kuroba said. "I get it. You're rebelling. You're going to change the way this school works. How funny."

"A revolution." Hana murmured. "This is a revolution."

"WE are." Tada corrected. "Sure, as Class Representatives, Hanae-Chan and Eriko-Chan and I will lead it, but we're all members of Class 3E. So we're all going to do this together, and we're all going to End the End Class."

"Huh, _we_? Nice to know I've been signed up without my consent…" Kuroba drawled, propping his chin up with his hand, searing all three representatives with his gaze. _Oh, wonderful._

"Oh, come on, Kuroba-kun…" Tada stammered, before Kuroba leaned back and laughed loudly.

"Ah, don't worry. I'd been wondering if anybody would ever think of this idea, and I was just starting to think they wouldn't. But as it turns out, I was mistaken. A rare occurrence, and therefore an interesting one. And I personally don't think this type of set-up is the best way to get results from anyone, so I'm all for this plan you have. But tell me, how are we going to go about this?"

"Well, we came up with a few ideas." Tada said. At that point, Eriko took over the explanations, while Tada drew lines coming from the large circle and wrote down each of the ideas: Learning self-defence, getting better grades than main-campus students on all the better tests, treating the main-campus students normally/civilly, refusing to be ashamed.

"Why do we need to treat the main-campus students nicely?" Yukiyama asked.

"Not necessarily _nicely_." Tsukuda corrected quickly. "Just, you know, act as if we're in a normal school and they're our year-mates in the normal sense. We can challenge their assumptions that way, make them realise that, you know, we're students too, that we aren't the human scum that they seem to assume we are. Then eventually they might come around to our way of thinking. And then it'll be easier to end the End Class. "

"But obviously, nice helps." Tada put in. "And I think it would help if any of you knew anyone in the main campus."

"Assuming they still talk to you." Ruko muttered. Tada stopped and looked over at Ruko for a moment, knowing that she thought of Ueno. She stared at her desk, then lifted her eyes to Tada. She hesitated, and then smiled, letting him know it was okay. He let out a sigh.

They talked a bit more about the ideas already written down, and Tada added more points to what was becoming a very complex mind-map on the black-board. Then, he turned things over to the rest of the class.

"So," he asked. "Since this is our project, do any of you have any ideas?"

"Social media!" Ayako proclaimed.

"Evidence of the discrimination we go through, especially photo evidence." Akira suggested.

"The School Festival, and any other big school events?" Kinomoto wondered.

"Hack into the school databases." Izzy drawled nonchalantly. At that, everyone turned to stare at the somewhat wild boy.

"Did you just say….hack into the school databases?" Tsuwabuki asked. "Surely that's not possible?"

"Well, they seem to _think_ it isn't possible." Izzy shrugged. "Otherwise they would have better security. That being said, it isn't too shabby...for a school."

"Don't tell me, you hacked into the school databases." Tsuwabuki deadpanned.

"Sure, what's wrong with that?"

"Fairly sure it's illegal." Reno commented.

"Not unless you get caught." Izzy retorted. _Except that you probably did._ Tada sighed. He exchanged a conspiratorial look with Tsukuda, who rolled her eyes.

"I suppose that could be a last resort. I mean, if we end up having to go to court, I don't think things that we got through hacking will be permissible evidence. But as a last resort, maybe. Tada, write it down." Tsukuda ordered.

Tada obliged. Izzy leaned back, smug.

"See, nothing wrong at all with hacking. Who knows, maybe if we need to, we can find something to blackmail Principal Okikura. "

"BLACKMAIL IS ILLEGAL TOO!" Everyone in the class-save for Kuroba-yelled at an unfazed Izzy.

"B-but, would we really need to go to court?" Reimiya asked hesitantly.

"Not likely." Eriko soothed. "But like how…ahem, hacking, will be a last result, that might be where things go."

"But don't worry!" Tsukuda grinned. "If it does come to that, my aunt's already said she'll back us! She's a lawyer, you see."

"No, it's fine. I won't be scared." Reimiya said bravely. She looked over at Reno, who gave her a thumbs-up and smiled encouragingly. "I mean, we'll all be together, right?"

"Right." Eriko confirmed. "But speaking of evidence, Akira-san, you said something about photographic evidence?"

Akira nodded, but didn't bother to explain.

"I think what she means is that we need to show people what we go through, not just that we're normal too. Otherwise they won't see why Class 3E needs to be ended."

Now everybody turned to stare at Kitabayashi. The fact he'd even bothered to contribute was strange in itself, but he'd also managed to say something insightful and sound interested while doing so. It was almost mind boggling.

"What?" he snapped in English after a few seconds of no response. "What's the problem?"

 _Aaand that's what tells us that this is_ definitely _Kitabayashi talking._

"Nothing, nothing." Tada soothed. "It's just that you have a good point. You're perfectly right, we do need to let the world know about the suffering and discrimination that we have to endure. That's part of this too."

"Exactly." Eriko agreed. "And if we're talking photographic evidence, I think Sorachi-san is the best person to go to for this."

Ruko blinked at them.

"I'm sorry, what?" Eriko just pointed at Ruko's camera and raised an eyebrow. Ruko instantly pouted and hugged her camera to her.

"You can't ask me to do that! What about all my romances?"

"Uh…" Eriko was clearly at a loss.

"You have a spare camera, don't you?" Tada asked.

"Well, yeah, but…." Ruko continued to pout stubbornly. All three representative sighed in unison.

"But, Ruko-Chan, haven't you ever taken a picture only to find out something better and more interesting has happened in the background, only you didn't know it at the time?"

"I guess so." Ruko conceded, eyeballing Ayako in bafflement. "But why?"

"Assume the same thing would happen if you took on this role." Ayako shrugged. "Or something."

Ruko took a moment to think about this.

"You know what, that's an awesome idea! I like that! And since I want to help anyway….it's just awesome! Thanks, Aya-Chan!"

"Ehehe…." Ayako smiled. "It has an advantage for me too. If I set up a blog, or a website, then photos could be useful."

"Ah, the social media stuff." Tsukuda remembered. "What about it, Ayako?"

"Well, things spread real quick on social media." She said. "And loads of people use it, so it's the best way to gain awareness, you know? I was thinking a blog would work, that would be the best way we can show both sides of the argument in different ways…the discrimination and the humanity, you know? I'd be willing to front it, with a little help."

Tada added all this to the mind-map on the black-board, then stepped back and took a look at it, noting how all the different ideas had really blossomed. _This is going to turn out wonderfully, I'm sure of it._

"Well, Eriko-Chan, Hanae-Chan, guys, what do you think?"

"I like the idea! " Tsukuda said instantly. Most of the others agreed just as vocally.

"YES!" Ayako crowed. "I'll begin that as soon as I can! Ruko-Chan, I'm borrowing your camera for any unexpected background action!"

"Sure thing!" Ruko grinned. "Or I can send you some of my pictures."

"That works too!"

"Well, that settles it." Tada said. "So, let's just quickly run through everything again."

They did this, and ironed out a few questions and issues, and with that, they ended the meeting. Ayako took a photograph on her phone of the mind-map on the blackboard before it got cleared off, and promised to send it to everyone. Then, they all helped to clear up the classroom, and after Haru rushed to the staffroom to tell Ichijou that they were finished, they all went down the hill together.

"Tada-kun?" Tada turned from the conversation he was having with Ruko and Ayako and looked down at Hana.

"What is it, Hana-Chan?"

"I…erm…this revolution, are Isogai-san and the others on board with it?" _Revolution, huh? Well, there's a way of putting it._

"Why?" Tada thought of how Hana has asked them about one Kei Aoshima at the Oceanfront café the week before.

"I…just…they're good people, I guess?" Hana stuttered, looking for words. "I don't think it's fair if they get hurt in return for what they've been trying to do."

"Oh, they are good people." Tada reassured her. "And yes, they'll support us. Cautiously so, but they've promised to help. And we won't hurt them-I don't want that either."

"Okay. Thanks, Tada-kun." Hana nodded at Tada, and then continued forward towards Tsukuda. Tada blinked, confused for a moment, and then turned to continue the conversation that he had been having with Ruko and Ayako.

 **…**

High up on the sturdiest branch, safely covered by darkness, he let his mind drift and go over the voices of this year's children as he leaned back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes. He had no idea why he'd chosen to return to here after so long, after all these years, but he had, and now he was here. He'd have to move further into the forest at some point, before one of the more nomadic children came across this tree he'd chosen for himself. But for now, this tree was good enough. So he relaxed as he thought of the children, whose names and voices were slowly becoming familiar to him.

That evening, before the sun had gone down, he'd heard all of them leave the old school building and go down the hill, and snatches of their conversations had come to him. Rebellion. Changing things. Revolution. Strategy. Hope. Plans. Taking a stand. It reminded him of a different time, a time that was both better and worse. A time that had defined him. And it looked like that in a different way; history was going to repeat again. It scared him, a lot. He hadn't heard enough to understand what it was that the children were planning, but he knew full well what ripples could emanate from such life-changing things. After all, that was why he was here now, hiding from everything.

Well, maybe that wasn't why he was here, specifically. He'd been hiding for so long, he had no lack of hiding places, of places to disappear into. But for some reason, he'd chosen to be close to home, to where parts of his heart still were.

And the way he figured it, those children were doing something _life-changing_. That was no small thing. As someone who knew what it was to be life-changing, he couldn't just walk away. So he'd stay. He would stay, and watch, and look over them under the cover of his own non-existence. The memories would be sure to assault him harder if he remained here longer, but he'd been through worse, so he'd stay.

And he would wait to see what ripples their actions would send out.

 **A note about the chapter title: 'Hero no Jouken' means 'Requirements of a Hero' and it is a track on the album 'Owari no Hoshi no Love Song' which is by Flaming June (a collaboration between Jun Maeda and Nagi Yanagi). That album is just all kinds of awesome, because well...the names of the artists explain it all, don't they. Anyway, the song 'Hero no Jouken' felt fitting for this chapter for lots of reasons that'd take way too long to explain.**

 **Anyway, please leave feedback!**


	12. Bread and Soup

**So. I have my first ever job interview tomorrow, and I'm crazy nervous about that. Sure, I've done work experience and volunteering before...but this is an interview for an ACTUAL SATURDAY JOB! And as someone who keeps wondering how on earth she made it to adulthood...yeah, pretty nerve wracking. And then on Friday I have the second-year induction/ welcome back thingy at my uni. All of a sudden, after a few months of blissful nothingness, my calendar is filling up again. Eeep. un times. Anyway, sorry for offloading all that on you. I haven't actually told anyone (apart from my family, obviously) about the job interview because I couldn't think of a way to mention it without it sounding like boasting when really it's just an interview and no guarantee of a job...I'm babbling again. Apologies again, wonderful readers!**

 **Now, a couple of chapters back a guest left me an anonymous review. I was going to use the author's note last chapter to reply, but I forgot and now I am too restless to search it out, so whoever that guest was, I hope you are content with the generic reply of- THANK YOU! Because I am always, always grateful for reviews and feedback, it really helps.**

 **So onto a little explanation about the chapter. This is sort of a filler chapter, and so there is a fair bit of fluffiness in it, but it is also a character development chapter that sprinkles a bit of subplot in too, so it's not like the filler episodes in an anime which don't really contribute anything. These scenes will contribute to the story in some way or another. And also, they sort of serve as a way of skipping over the weeks where nothing much happens, especially since the different scenes don't all take place on the same day. So yeah.**

 **I'll leave it that, and just hope that as usual, you'll enjoy the chapter!**

"Ah, Tada, I'm not coming with you to Fuyumi's." Hiro told her brother as they left the house and began to walk down the street. Tada gave her a confused glance.

"You're not? How come?"

Hiro smiled happily, restraining herself from spinning around in joyful circles as they walked. Tada smiled knowingly.

"Ah, let me guess. You're meeting Yukiyama-kun this morning. That certainly explains it. You don't usually actively meet up, right?"

Hiro gave Tada a thumbs-up to tell him he was correct. It was corny of her, but she really was happy at the fact that finally, _finally_ , Yukiyama had agreed to meet her at the end of the road where he lived, so that they could walk to school together. It meant a lot to her, for all sorts of reasons, but especially because she knew it that it had taken a lot for Yukiyama to actually agree to it. Perhaps they hadn't known each other nearly long enough to be able to confide _everything_ in each other, but this was something she just _knew_ about him. And so, she was grateful, and super excited.

"Ah, Hiro, you're blushing!" Tada teased. Hiro pouted and shoved him playfully, and then they both laughed and chatted for a while until they got to the road where they'd have to separate. She reminded Tada that she had club that day, before they exchanged goodbyes and he headed towards Fuyumi's house, while she wandered to the road where Yukiyama lived. It wasn't a part of town she'd ever been to, but Yukiyama had described some of the more distinctive features for her, and so she was fine. Hiro was a visual sort of person anyway.

When she found the maple tree that Yukiyama had suggested she wait by, she grinned and ran up to it. She briefly thought about climbing up it (all the better to see everything from) but she decided to just lean against the tree in the end and watch the comings and goings of other people going by, and all the cars going past too. There was a lot of noise, and as it went on it made her hearing aids crackle and her head hurt, so she thought about turning them off, or even taking them out completely, but unbidden, her father's voice came into her mind, telling her off.

" _Chihiro, no! You shouldn't switch off your hearing aids when you're out, especially when you're crossing the road. You need to be able to hear what's going on, especially when you're somewhere busy."_

 _Her father pointed to a part of the road where other cars were swerving because of another car that was driving erratically. Hiro blinked. She'd been looking at the cars near the crossing, and she hadn't even noticed the car over there, but now she did because it was coming closer. She told her dad this, and he smiled down at her, less annoyed._

" _That's exactly it. Looking when you're crossing the road is very important, but it doesn't cover everything. So be careful, okay, Hiro?"_

" _Yes, Papa." Hiro said, reluctantly turning the aids back on and letting the storm rush back into her head._

As the memory played out in her head, she shook it, trying to get it out. _No, I don't want to think about Papa now!_ She gritted her teeth and looked at the ground for a moment, until she'd composed herself. _I'd much rather think about Mama than Papa right now…._

When she looked up again, she spotted Yukiyama at the other end of the road, walking down, stiff against the world as always. She could spot that even from this far. _Ah, Saito. Maybe I'll just think about the living for now, instead._ She smiled and stepped out so that Yukiyama could see her properly, and waved just to make things clearer. When he got closer, he smiled and lifted his hand slightly to acknowledge her.

"Good morning." He greeted when he got closer, sticking his hands in his pockets. He looked up at the tree for a moment, and then returned his eyes to her. She beamed at him.

"Good morning." She replied as they started walking. As they walked, they talked of random things.

"The weather's nice today, isn't it, Chihiro?"

"That's rather British of you, Saito, but yeah, it's nice. Great for sitting outside. "

" _British_ of me?"

"Sure it is. It's like a stereotype, that British people always talk about the weather. Especially when trying to fill awkward silences."

"Erm…did we have an awkward silence?" Yukiyama gave her an odd look, which made Hiro giggle.

"Nooo….I was just teasing-Oh, Saito, you're too tense." Hiro carefully put a hand on his shoulder, not wanting him to bolt. Yukiyama could be unusually skittish at times, and it was sad to watch. Luckily, this time he just looked at her carefully before relaxing his shoulders slightly.

"That better?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah it is. Sorry." She apologised.

"No, it's fine. So anyway, how do you know about British stereotypes? Have you been there?"

"No, I haven't. But I read a little bit and Tada reads a _lot_. He's always telling me about all these different books and the stories they tell. That, and we have a friend whose father is a government worker or some sorts. I don't really get it, but for some reason, that friend's father's particular work takes him to Britain a lot, specifically England. So he picks up those things, tells our friend and his siblings, and then we hear about it…"

"Ah, I see. So Tada's a bookworm, huh? That explains a lot."

"It does, doesn't it? Do you read much?"

"Not really. Not for leisure. "

"Ah, that's a shame. I'm no bookworm, but reading for leisure is great, you know."

"Hmm….maybe I'll try it then."

"You should ask Tada, then. He'd give you an entire list of books."

"…..Do I have to?"

"If you're afraid, then I'll ask for you! Seriously though, Tada won't mind. "

"…"

"…"

"Chihiro, you're incorrigible."

"If you say so. I don't usually get described like that."

Their conversation went on in a similar manner, veering in all sorts of places, and once they were really into it, Yukiyama even laughed a few times, which made Hiro feel good. _Everything's better when you laugh, Saito. At least, it helps, and I should know this. Being happy's a good thing._

"Well, there's some interesting timing for you."

Hiro blinked at Yukiyama, not entirely sure if she'd heard him right. She fiddled with her hearing aids for a moment, making sure that the battery hadn't randomly died. Sensing her bafflement, Yukiyama repeated what he had said, but more slowly, before pointing. They were starting to approach the bottom of the hill that marked the route to the Class 3E campus- and Tada was approaching the same place with Fuyumi and Jori, only in the opposite direction.

Once she'd made sure the batteries were still working, Hiro put her hearing aids back on, and the two of them approached her brother and his other classmates.

"Oh, well, this is interesting!" Jori declared, regarding them sceptically. Then, she narrowed her eyes. "Are you two _dating_?"

Instantly, Hiro went bright red and became flustered.

"No, no, nothing like that." She stammered, waving her hands around in a loose approximation for the sign language for 'you're wrong', not even realising that this was what she was doing until Tada pointed it out gently. At that point, she just felt herself redden even more and she stuck her hands firmly in the pockets of her school sweater. _I'm turning into one of those ridiculously soppy girls, aren't I? How corny._

"Don't be ridiculous. " Yukiyama stated shortly, cutting through the nonsense. Hiro nodded at him gratefully, but at the same time she felt disappointed. She sort of wished they _were_ dating. She remembered the way it felt, setting eyes on him for the very first time. And she remembered how it felt the second time, standing in the new classroom, and looking at the sea of strangers only to realise one wasn't a complete stranger, even if the only things they'd exchanged until then were looks across a single encounter.

But she could also recall watching the way he'd rejected everyone in that class, and she knew precisely how many times she'd gone up to him and said nothing more than a 'good morning' or a 'see you later' or a 'hello there' until he'd eventually melted enough that he was able to do the same in return without looking like he was walking across thorns. And sure, the greetings didn't take long to shift into easy conversations, but there was still that wariness, that caution. It was there even as she found that the more they spent time together, the more she loved him. So, there was no way she could take things further. Not yet. She would ask one day- there was no way she could live with these feelings forever and not let Yukiyama know, after all- but for now, she would wait, and be content with what she had. _Because that's what love is._

"You will be, one day." Fuyumi pronounced. Everyone swivelled around to goggle at her. _I wish I was that confident in the future though,_ Hiro thought.

"Erm….Fuyumi-Chan, perhaps you shouldn't be making assumptions like that…." Tada pointed out. Fuyumi gave him a look.

"But I _know_ it." She protested, mildly. Yukiyama rolled his eyes.

"Like I said. " He snapped out brusquely. "Don't be ridiculous. Chihiro, I'm going up now."

"Mhm, okay." Hiro put asides her musings on Yukiyama and love. "Bye, Saito."

"Bye." And just like that, he trudged up the hill, not looking back, and reverted to his usual tense posture. Hiro sighed.

"Well, that was rude!" Jori fumed, although she didn't seem that annoyed.

"Erm….." Hiro ran a hand through her hair. "I think I'll just go now…"

"Okay then." Tada said. "Have a good day."

"You, too."

 **…**

Ayako hated Home Economics. She really, really hated it. And she really didn't like the fact that the kitchen they had to do the lesson in was old, basic and really wooden. What if she burnt something?

She wasn't even sure if it was a help or just a new form of hindrance that Ichijou actually seemed to know what she was doing in this subject- writing down exactly what they needed to make the soup they were focussing on that day, as well as the exact recipe for it, and then going around and offering useful tips and guidance to everyone. It was…very un-Ichijou like. _She's a Kunugigaoka teacher, to boot. How long can this last?_ And so, it was a very large frown that she wore on her face as she stirred and chopped and tested her soup.

As she did this, she half-listened to Ruko go around to everyone, finding out what they were doing, and teasing them where necessary. She didn't focus too much though, as she wanted to make the soup at least passable. Maybe if she did Ichijou would lapse and let her leave the room and do something more useful. Like checking on their 'Ending the End Class' blog. Now that was something she knew how to cultivate, and something she enjoyed while she was at it.

"What do you mean, you're awful at cooking?!" Ruko's shriek interrupted the mental plan of a written post she was thinking of adding to the blog.

"I am, really." Tada said, sheepishly shifting from foot to foot as he stood between Tsukuda and Yukiyama, holding a pepper pot in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other.

"But the _cookies_! And the toffees! You did make those, didn't you?" Ayako asked, just as surprised as Ruko was.

"Well, yes…but that was baking. Baking and sweet things are pretty much all I can do in terms of kitchen work." Tada apologetically explained. Ruko didn't seem too put out though, choosing to fling herself at Tada in a gesture of mock-affection, causing him to almost stumble into Tsukuda, who let out a short yell before nimbly getting out of the way.

"Well then," she declared girlishly. "You can bake me lots of nice sweet things, just for me!"

"Oh my, Tada-kun, you bake? Well then, perhaps we can choose a sweet treat for our next Home Economics lesson. How about it, children?" Ichijou clasped her hands as she addressed them.

The way everyone looked at the teacher, Ayako just knew that they were all thinking the same thing: _Way to go for not reading the mood!_ Tada managed to duck away from Ruko, and pushed her back over to her work table with exaggerated patience, before returning to his soup. The others nearby all did the same. Ichijou blinked for a moment, and then became cheerful again.

"Well, we can always chat about it later. I'll just continue making the rounds. Ah, Yamada-san, do you need more help?" With that, Ichijou headed over to Yamada, who was clinging to her wooden spoon and staring at it as if it had dropped from space.

Ayako rolled her eyes, and returned to her soup. She took a taste of it, and decided it was utterly awful. Thinking for a moment, she looked back at the instructions on the whiteboard. That didn't particularly help her, unfortunately, so she decided to just keep adding in various random spices and hope for the best.

"Say, Tada, does Hiro cook at all? Or does she just do a few particular things, like you?" Ayako heard Tsukuda asked. There was a beat of silence before Tsukuda gave an awkward laugh.

"Okeydokey then, I won't ask anymore."

Ayako suppressed a laugh at that. Just from that little snippet, she could imagine what sort of look Tada had given Tsukuda. She grinned, and decided to try and overhear more interesting things as she continued with the soup. Doing this, she managed to hear a lot of interesting and amusing snippets, all things she could add to her notebook, but her fun ended when she tasted her soup and nearly gagged.

"Takashita-san, are you okay?"

"I…I think I poisoned myself, sensei." Ayako groaned, unable to see past anything but the horrible, horrible taste in her mouth. She knew she was hopeless at these things, but she had not expected it to taste quite _that_ bad. Ichijou took a spoonful and tasted Ayako's soup for herself. Her owl-eyes went wide, and she blinked.

"Well…I can safely say you won't have poisoned yourself, Takashita-san, but I don't think we should be serving this. How about you clean up and dispose of the soup, and then go back to the classroom and study for a while until next period? I've already sent Eriko-san, Arisato-kun, Kuroba-kun and Azama-kun back, so you can join them."

Ayako nodded in compliance, trying hard to stifle her glee at getting to leave the kitchen, and she began to clean up. As she did so, Kitabayashi unexpectedly voiced a complaint.

"Are we not going to make bread, as well?" the look on his face was very sulky. _Huh?_

"…Bread, Kitabayashi-kun? Whatever for?" Ichijou asked.

"To have with the soup, of course!" Kitabayashi said incredulously. He then muttered phrases in English, all of them a variation on 'are you stupid?'. As ever, though, Ichijou either didn't realise or just let Kitabayashi's rudeness wash over her, because she just seemed to consider what Kitabayashi had said about the bread.

"But…that's a bit strange, isn't it?" Ichijou came up with eventually.

"Not at all, Ichijou-sensei!" Koujiro said enthusiastically. "Katsu's actually talking a lot of sense. I've had bread with soup before, and it's really good. You basically dip the bread in the soup and then eat the bread. You can spread it with butter before doing so, if you want." _Katsu? I need to ask Tobe-san about that. That's an interesting nickname._

"Alternatively, you could rip the bread up into small pieces and treat them like croutons." Tada joined the conversation, clearly interested in the idea of making bread. Yamada could be heard asking what croutons were, while Tsuwabuki shushed her.

"That's true! When I went to visit my friend in America we had bread with tomato soup as a dinner this one time. The soup was the canned type, but it's a very comforting meal." Jori added.

"It sounds good!" Fuyumi agreed. "Oh, please could we make bread, Ichijou-sensei? Just a few of us? I'm sure nearly everyone has finished with their soups." _Or given up._

Ichijou shifted from one foot to another and wrung her hands, not sure what to say. After what must have been at least some mental deliberation, Ichijou opened her mouth to say something when an almighty crash and some shouting from Haru's area interrupted her.

"What the fuck?" Haru was standing in front of Yamada, who just looked down at her hands and stared at them, utterly confused. Her pot of soup was on the floor, and the soup had spilled out on the floor. At least, some of it had. A lot of it was all over Haru's uniform, and justifiably, she looked angry, her eyes narrowed and cheeks red. She let out a stream of swear words before Ichijou bustled over and fretted over them. Next to Haru, Hirigi was also soaked with soup, and he stared at Haru with barely-concealed surprise. Frankly, Ayako didn't blame him.

"Ah, oh dear, Kuroyama-san, Kuroyama-kun and Hirigi-kun are all wet too!" Sure enough, Both Kuroyamas were wet, Reimiya more so than Reno. Haru whirled around to look at Ichijou, clearly on the warpath for some reason, when she caught sight of the other three soaked students. She blinked at them, and then the colour drained from her face. Just as quickly, she became red again soon after, but this time it was embarrassment that could be seen in her features, as opposed to anger. She slapped at her cheeks a few times and then immediately began checking that the other three were all right, bending down to pick up the pot and put it away, and offering to clean up the mess on the floor. Ichijou told her not to worry about it.

"I think Yamada-san and I will clear this up, and then go back to class, right, Yamada-san?" Yamada nodded meekly at this, face expressionless as she scrutinised the chaos through her glasses. "In the meantime, the four of you should clean up and change into your P.E kits for the rest of the day and...uh, what else? Oh, the bread! I think we do have ingredients for some basic bread, so how about some of you team up and start now, and then once I make sure everyone else is in class, I'll come back and supervise?"

"Sounds good!" Tada said instantly. "I'd like to be one of the ones making the bread. What about you, Akira-Chan?" Instantly, Tada turned to the small blue-eyed girl, who was standing at a counter by herself, watching everything unfold calmly. The smell coming from her soup was brilliant. She shook her head.

"No thank you, Tada-san." Akira said politely.

"Oh, okay." Even though Tada said this cheerfully, Ayako could tell that he was disappointed, and she stifled a grin. _I think I'm going to have to review my OTP list._ After some asking, it was decided that Koujiro, Kitabayashi, Jori and Fuyumi would accompany Tada in making the bread.

"Ah, I could come back afterwards, couldn't I?" Haru asked eagerly at this point, her outburst from moments ago all but erased. Hirigi stared at her again, and then turned to Ichijou.

"I think I would like to help too, with the bread that is." Hirigi looked nervous as he said this, but this soon disappeared when the others accepted his offer whole-heartedly, and he grinned as Koujiro grabbed him in a friendly headlock for a moment, declaring that they were all going to make the best bread ever.

As Hirigi and the three others who had gotten soaked by Yamada's soup left to change, Ayako took that moment as a chance to finally get back to the classroom. Once there, she instantly got out her phone, and went straight to her email account that she'd set up for the class blog, and began sorting through that, occasionally going to the actual blog to check how things were going. Since most of the photographs she had been planning to upload were on her home computer, she just busied herself herself with replying to comments, correcting posts, and planning a text post she was planning about the incidences of bullying across the country, and how they compared with Kunugigaoka's unique situation. That, naturally, was one of the ideas she had. There were so many more, floating around her head and waiting for her to nurture them.

"AYA-CHAN!"

Ayako nearly fell off her seat. She scrambled to steady herself, and once she had, she glared at Ruko.

"What the hell? I was doing something, you know?"

Ruko just grinned.

"Dude, the bread and soup is all finished. All the other guys are in the Home Ec room, enjoying it. We tried to get your attention, but it didn't seem to work? Guess you're checking on the blog?"

"Yeah, I am? We haven't been getting an overwhelming amount of attention, but all the comments are positive so far, especially for the posts that are about bullying in general. "Ayako stated proudly. Ruko grinned at her. Satisfied that her friend was impressed, Ayako turned back to her phone. Ruko, however, wasn't having that.

"Well, that's good and all, but BREAD! You can't miss out on the bread that Tada-Chan and everyone made! Now for god's sake, come!"

Seeing that Ayako was going to refuse, Ruko pulled her out of her seat and dragged her to the Home Economics room, moaning and groaning. But when she got there, the smells of the food changed her mind, and the way all her friends were chatting and laughing as they ate the bread and dipped it in the soup changed it even more. She supposed she could eat for a while. Just a while. So she sat down. Then, she Hirigi to serve her, and then she tucked in with gusto, enjoying herself. And while she did this, her mind kept planning and creating ideas to make the Ending the End Class blog the best it could be.

 **…**

"Izzy, come to lunch." Izzy looked up from his laptop at Kuroba, who was frowning at him.

"I'm not that hungry." Izzy explained. "Besides, this is a lot more interesting." He gestured to the Facebook page open on the laptop. He'd spent a little time carefully hacking into the school databases for all the records from thirty years ago, but the security on those particular files had been protected by more security than the rest of the school databases combined. In other words, nothing had changed from the last time he'd attempted to get in. At least the simple class roster hadn't been delegated to the more secure files. That, combined with all the extra time he'd clocked up since coming to 3E, had allowed him to get his hands on one particularly special roster, complete with names and ID pictures. The one from thirty years ago.

Having the names was a start, and it satisfied him to know that four names were ones they had already come across- Yuuma Isogai, Megu Kataoka and Hiroto Maehara, the three who had self-appointed themselves mentors of Class 3E. Then there was Tada's mother, whose maiden name turned out to be Kurahashi. He supposed he could have extended his hacking to get into other databases to cross-check the other names, but he still found himself disbelieving of Tada's ignorance. If his mother had been in that class, and he'd grown up with other members of that class, how could he have not caught on to anything odd at all? Tada was clearly smart, so Izzy would have expected him to have done searches on interesting things that had happened in the same year that Hinano Kurahashi had been in that class.

But apparently not. He didn't even find the coincidence of the moon explosion odd. This was fair enough, given that the moon had been the way it had been for their whole lives anyway….but combined with all the other weird things, like those sightings, and how 3E had apparently had more teachers than normal? Whatever the reason was, it was more than coincidence, and Izzy couldn't understand how somebody wouldn't be able to see that. This was why Izzy had decided to lay off the hacking for now, and just see what social media sites Tada was signed up to, and just scroll through those for clues. After all, people could be so _stupid_ about their social media. Currently, he was on Tada's Facebook page, and it was very interesting.

"That's Kitakawa's Facebook page, isn't it?" Kuroba dragged a chair up to Izzy's desk and sat down on it. "What are you searching for?"

Briefly, Izzy explained his reasoning behind what he was doing, and soon they were discussing everything that Izzy had been looking for. Izzy did stop short of telling Kuroba that the mystery of thirty years ago was exactly why he was currently in this classroom. That, for now, would be a step too far, no matter how well he got in with Kuroba.

"Ah, isn't Akabane one of the surnames on that class's roster?" Kuroba asked.

"Yeah, it is." Rather than ask why Kuroba had fixated upon the name 'Akabane', Izzy looked at the post that Kuroba was focussed on. It was a link to a playlist of character songs from some anime show or another. It had been posted to Tada's Facebook wall by one 'Kou Akabane', and that person had added a cheeky caption saying: Hey, since I can't come down there, here's something awesome. My favourite of the character songs is Kumiko's 'BrushupXBrassup'. Enjoy!

There were a whole host of emojis after this pronouncement. The profile picture of Kou Akabane showed a smiling, handsome boy with dark purple, almost black hair and lively golden eyes. Izzy studied the post. Tada had 'liked' the link, and his sister Hiro had too. Tada had also made a comment telling this Kou that he was 'utterly obsessed' but that he'd 'give it a whirl anyway'. Nodding to himself, Izzy scrolled back up and looked through the other posts. Sure enough, Kou Akabane was someone who liked and commented on a lot of things that Tada had posted or shared. He tried his best to ignore all the different condolence posts that various people had made to Tada's Facebook wall. All that internet sadness reminded him of what he didn't have.

"I can't stand emojis." Kuroba said when Izzy had scrolled back to the playlist. "But I think you should perhaps check his profile."

Izzy gave Kuroba a thumbs-up, and obliged. It didn't take him long to get a result- a red-haired man who looked so much like Kou Akabane it couldn't be a coincidence. _I wonder how much I look like my father, whoever he is._ Izzy shook the thought away and clicked a few more times, and then he had it. Kou Akabane's father was one Karma Akabane. And that name was on the Class 3E roster from thirty years ago. And even better, it looked as if Kou's mother, Manami Akabane, would have once been Manami Okuda, from the same class. The three of them and Kou's three younger siblings lived together in a good part of Kyoto. Of course, he'd need to do a little bit of actual hacking to confirm the identity of Kou's mother, as well as a few other tiny details. But still, it was a result.

"Karma Akabane…I've seen his name in the political sections of newspapers before." mused Kuroba. Izzy scrutinised the images of the redheaded man, noticing how the sensible amount of photos (that is to say, not so many that he was at risk of oversharing, but not so little that his Facebook page was pointless) were mostly relaxed family photographs, or smart professional ones with the man wearing formal buisnessy suits. Again, it reminded Izzy of things he didn't have.

"So either he's a politician or he has some other governmental job."

"From what I remember he didn't seem like a politician to me, so I'd vote for other government job."

"He probably knows a whole lot of things relating to the incidents if that's the case. Perfect blackmail material, don't you think, Sei-Chan?"

Isogai and Maehara would have been easier pickings, since they were nearer and had practically put themselves at the beck and call of the current 3E. Even Megu, far away in France, was only an email or a phone call away. But somehow, they were so nice that even Izzy would feel bad about blackmailing them. So he'd decided that in their case, he'd take a wait-and-see approach.

"Mhm." Kuroba agreed. "Admittedly, this man is your best bet. Or his wife, if it turns out she was Manami Okuda. But since you haven't even cross-checked the other names on the list, I wouldn't place all your bets on him. Besides, I have a feeling he'd be formidable if you did try to wrangle information from him. Not that would bother me, but I don't have death wishes and neither should you."

"Ah, Sei-Chan, you worry too much. But yeah, I might hit a jackpot with someone else, so I'll wait. " Flexing his fingers a little, he left Tada's Facebook page, then opened up the spreadsheet that he'd created and entered the new information he'd found. Then he looked at the names and wondered which one to check next. Suddenly, Kuroba's hands came to cover the screen.

"Izzy." Kuroba said in mock patience. "You recall that I came in here to get you for lunch?"

"So?" Izzy pouted.

"So come! You can't skip meals; it isn't good for you at all! And I am guessing you didn't even have breakfast today. So your lunch is even more important. We can have it outside, which takes care of another thing you need-fresh air. Which basically means, this isn't an option. We can come back to your searches after eating, if you so wish. " Kuroba actually tutted after he finished his mini-rant and this made Izzy crack up.

"Okay, okay!" he surrendered, saving his spreadsheets, logging out of the sites he'd logged into, and closing all programs. Once he'd shut down his laptop, he put it carefully into his laptop bag, then picked that and his bento box up.

"Okay, I'll come out and eat lunch. But I'm going straight back to this afterwards. I'm on a roll, you see!"

 **…**

As the light of the setting sun filtered through the dojo room Eriko was currently in, she continued to strike at the dummy she was practising on, trying attacks from all angles. Normally, she wouldn't be practising so hard, given that she wasn't even going to run the dojo as an adult, but she was doing it for 3E. Some of the skills that you got from kendo could be just as useful in defending yourself against bullies as Tsukuda's hand-to-hand combat and Tada's 'sparring' were. She wanted to be as good as possible, so when 'her' P.E lessons came up, she'd be able to teach them properly. It was her duty as one of the three Class Representatives.

And naturally, knowing how to protect themselves would serve towards their overall purpose of breaking down the school system.

As the dummy span around and around after one particularly nasty hit, Eriko stopped for breath and silently bemoaned a lack of a proper partner to fight. All the other dojo workers were busy, and of course, her family weren't talking to her, so there was no way they'd _practise_ with her. She was lucky that they'd allowed her to take their old wooden swords into school in the first place. Just being around them made her want to wallow in shame and humiliation, so asking them for something had been even worse.

" _Don't let them force your head down, and don't give off an aura of despair, and that way you should be able to keep the respect of everyone else. "_

 _The way Megu said those words, and the way her eyes settled into the middle distance, it seemed like she'd said words like these to others before, many times. But all the same, Eriko could feel the honesty in Megu. It was emanating off her, in the same way that guilt or grief or loneliness did. She just nodded, as they walked down the road._

" _I said something similar to a boy once, when I was nearing the end of my year in 3E." Megu added, as if reading Eriko's mind. "He was in 2C at the time, but was preparing to become a member of 3E." She stopped at that, and got the wistful look on her face again, as if thinking back on that year._

" _I agree with those words." Eriko declared. "I really do. In fact, that's what we're all trying to do, especially with our project. But…the reason I ended up in 3E. Every time I just think about it I just…I don't know."_

 _She didn't know how to express the anger she felt over getting excluded for stopping Miki Otsuka from harassing the old lady. She didn't know how to rail against the fact that Miki Otsuka hadn't even been punished- she'd practically gotten rewarded, instead. And she certainly didn't know how to explain how draining that injustice was._

 _Megu stopped, and so Eriko did too. The older woman put her hands on Eriko's shoulders._

" _You know something? When it comes to doing the right thing, part of it is just persistence. You just have to keep carrying on. Those words I said to you, and to that boy, about not letting them force your head down? It applies to the everyday act 'doing the right thing', too. So keep at it."_

" _Okay." Eriko said uncertainly. "Okay. I'll do that, Kataoka-san."_

 _Megu nodded, pleased, and they continued walking._

" _Besides, "Megu added, conversationally. " I'm starting to think that now, if you don't manage to change this system, then nobody will. And I think you will, because you're actually setting out to do it. Yuuma, Hiroto and I, we just thought it would happen inevitably, because of how we were different as a class. But in the end, that's not how it turned out. "_

And we've all been beating ourselves up for it ever since, _was the words left unspoken. There were other things floating around that were just as unspoken, but she didn't know what they were, as they were things clearly related to Megu's own personal history with 3E, things that she didn't know of, and most likely things that even Tada did not know of. Either way, whatever those things were, it was clearly a great contributing factor to the 'informal mentoring scheme' that Megu, Isogai and Maehara were running._

 _Eriko didn't know what to say to the sincerity that mixed itself in the raw shame and guilt she could feel in Megu. Class 3E was truly an awful creation, and the creation of it was definitely_ not _the right thing. Both of them knew it. But Eriko didn't say anything, not wanting to accidentally make Megu recall more sad things, so she thanked her profusely, and then asked one more question._

" _So, that boy you met that time? Did you manage to help him? Did he manage to persist?"_

 _At this, Megu smiled, and she actually seemed happy, as if recalling something joyful, or rather, something that was hopeful._

" _You know what?" she said, her grin growing ever wider. "I think he did."_

As Eriko recalled the conversation they'd had that day- the day after the 'Ending the End Class' meeting, and the day before Megu had left Japan to return to France- she stopped the dummy from spinning. Then, she adjusted her clothes, picked up her kendo sword, and adjusted the pose of the dummy. After this, she stepped back an appropriate distance, and got into the start stance.

"I'm going to keep my head up. And I'm going to keep on doing the right thing. "And _while I'm at it, I'll break this system. Both for my class's sake, and for Kataoka-san's sake._

And with that declaration, she charged at the dummy in the sunset-stained dojo, ready to attack.

 **The conversation Megu tells Eriko about in the flashback was adapted (and somewhat paraphrased)from Chapter 113 of the Assassination Classroom fanfiction 'Judecca' by Adamant. That happens to be an incredibly intricate, intelligent and thoughtful fanfiction, and I recommend you all read it. Not in one sitting though. There are about 117 chapters at the last count. 117! Also, I tried to read it all in one sitting myself and failed horribly. But definitely read it. However, the point I was trying to make is that Adamant was kind enough to allow me to use that particular chapter of their fanfic as stimulus for various aspects of this one, and even gave me permission to use the OC they created for that chapter, who is the boy Eriko gets told about. He'll make his own appearances a fair bit later, so when that happens, I'll credit that OC properly then. Thank you very much, Adamant! **

**It occurred to me as AssClass's events presumably take place in the 2014/2015 school year or something near to that, then social media would have changed a lot between then and the events of these fics. But coming up with fictional 'new' sites is a little beyond my capabilities, so I'll just keep referring to the current social media sites for now. Also, I kinda glossed over Haru's explosion in the home economics scene because quite frankly, I am a prude. I understand that people do swear out loud and stuff in frustration, etc (indeed, I swear in the privacy of my own head), and I know that sometimes it can make a character's voice/ feelings authentic. But it feels super weird writing it, so I limit myself to sporadic outbursts here and there rather than the 'stream' I described. I'm working on that particular aspect of my prudishness though. I promise.**

 **Also, I just couldn't resist hinting that Kou Akabane (my OC who is indeed the eldest son of Karma and Manami- you might remember his 5-year-old form from 'That Moment Onwards' and some of his outstanding traits from that) is obsessed with Hibike! Euphonium. It feels fitting, somehow. And when he gets his own appearance in this fic, maybe you'll see why ehehe.**

 **Ah! You might remember that I said that the scenes in the chapter didn't take place on the same day? Did you notice how I arranged the scenes to seem as if they could have taken place on the same day anyway? It's an idea that I'm toying with for character development/filler chapters that I don't already have a specific agenda for. What do you think of the setup? Do let me know.**

 **And I think I'll leave the author's note here, because I'm clearly in a chatty mood and need mental restraining. So, again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave feedback, as usual!**


	13. Putting Your Faith in Ghosts

**And, here I am with another chapter. I'm probably going to keep all my updates to Fridays or Sundays, since I have lectures on Mondays and Tuesdays, I generally am not online on Saturdays and *gasp* I obviously need to study/ write up my notes etc etc. So rather than the 5-10 day threshold I've been on up to this point, expect updates to take between 1-2 weeks. Anything quicker, I got lucky and found myself with time/ an extra spark of creativity. Anything longer means that I am seriously swamped so you'll need to bear with me. Just so you know ^^**

"Ugh, I really, really, really don't have the will-power to do anything anymore." Ruko proclaimed dramatically as she reached the top of the hill. Turning to face everyone, she spread her arms out as if balancing on the top of a tower.

"I say we boycott the rest of today's lessons!" _Somehow, I knew she was going to say that,_ Tada thought self-depreciatingly as he also reached the top and helped Fuyumi back into her wheelchair.

"Thank you, Tada-san, " Fuyumi said, as she did every time she was helped. Tada smiled at her, then turned to see what the rest of his class would make of Ruko's idea of boycotting lessons after the assembly.

"It was hardly that bad." Kuroba's voice dripped with condescension. "How unfit are you?"

"Hey!" Kuroba and Ruko instantly started glaring at each other, as if they hadn't made any progress at all since the debacle of the first day. In keeping with this regression, Izzy just laughed at them and didn't bother to do anything else. Luckily, Eriko was at hand with a large stick and promptly held it out between them, stopping them both. Just like that, Ruko got bored and moved away, going back to Ayako and engaging her in some sort of passionate conversation.

"Honestly." Eriko rolled her eyes and shook her head as she let the stick drop. "The two of you are just…Oh I don't know! The point is-can you not just get along?"

"Why, exactly, do you think I should feel the need to do that?" Kuroba didn't wait for an answer before continuing on. "I'm going to go inside until you actually decide what's happening."

And sure enough he did. Tada expected that Izzy would follow him without hesitation. Instead, he hesitated for a moment, then shrugged to himself and ended up following Kuroba anyway. For some reason, this interested Tada, but he decided not to dwell on it too much. It surely didn't matter.

"Kuroba-kun did have a point though, I guess, Eri-Chan." Kaori said. "I mean, since Isogai-san and the others recommended that we just use the same route that we use when arriving at and leaving school, we haven't had to lose so much time getting to the assemblies."

"I suppose you have a point, Kao-Chan." Eriko conceded. "But Kuroba-san doesn't need to be like that…."

"I agree with Kaori." Tsukuda put in. "I mean, if you look at that map Maehara drew out….the 'short-cut' Kunugigaoka recommends is just…"Tsukuda visibly shuddered at the idea of the long, twisted and dangerous route. _And the sheer amount of insects we'd have encountered,_ Tada thought, wryly _._

"It is still a bit tiring though." Haru commented. As if to agree with her, Hana yawned, then rubbed her eyes like a sleepy kitten. _Aww, how cute._ From the way some of the others stared at Hana (who was oblivious to the attention her yawn had gained as she decided to sit down on the grass), it seemed they also were caught unawares by her kittenishness.

"Perhaps we should just skip P.E for today then. It's no real problem. Right, Protector of the Small?"

Tsukuda stuck her tongue out at Tada, but nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. But what on earth should we do instead?" She scrunched up her face to think about it, and many of the others wondered too. Tsuwabuki was the one who unexpectedly offered up a suggestion.

"Well, we have mid-terms coming up. Surely we should study for those?"

This response was met with many groans. But even though Tada was one of the ones who had groaned, he considered the idea. Tsuwabuki was certainly right about the midterms. And they had an extra reason for needing to get good exam results-it was part of how they'd be ending Class 3E for the final time. _Those results, they'll be one of the vital pieces._

"Well, that's certainly a point…" Tada started, but he was quickly shouted down by most of the class-particularly Ruko, who was a dedicated procrastinator(a term which struck him as an oxymoron)- and they ended up debating it for a while. Finally, they decided to just play a game of hide-and-seek for their P.E lesson. Once they had decided this, they went inside, told Izzy and Kuroba what they were doing, and then they all went to get changed.

Once they had, Jori and Fuyumi ended up taking charge, splitting the class up into two groups- those who would hide, and those who would find them. Since Fuyumi would have found it difficult to navigate the forest, she decided to be the one to make sure those who had been 'found' couldn't cheat and go back into hiding, as well as being the one to keep track of the time. Jori joined Kuroba, Eriko and Koujiro as the 'finders' , and it didn't take long for them to start playing.

Almost predictably, Kuroba was quick to sniff out quite a few members of the class almost instantly. In some cases he had actually snuck up on them from behind , freaking them out badly before sending them to Fuyumi. Tada wasn't particularly experienced in keeping himself undercover, but he knew a thing or two about sneak attacks, and managed to evade Kuroba. At one point, he was actually hiding behind Kuroba when he snuck up behind Kaori to 'find her'. Once Kaori had been taken out though, Tada decided to keep moving, only to get caught by Eriko as he tried to climb up a tree. At the same time, Jori had managed to find Akira, so the two of them wandered back to the edge of the forest together.

"So, who's left?" Tada asked once they got there, mentally going through the class roster and comparing it to those in front of him.

"Reimiya-san, Sorachi-san, Arisato-san, Tsuwabuki-san, Tsukuda-san and Kitabayashi-san." Fuyumi answered instantly.

"Woah, seriously, Kitabayashi-kun?" Tada blurted out, surprised. That wasn't something he'd expected. But just as he said that, Kitabayashi hurtled out of the forest, yelling incoherently. For some odd reason, Koujiro rushed after him. It didn't take long for them all to realise that the two were yelling in English. Kitabayashi looked utterly terrified, his hair messy and teal eyes wide, leaves and mud staining his P.E clothes.

"A..a ghost, a ghost!" these were the only words Tada was able to decipher in the stream of Kitabayashi's fear. He stepped forward to try and stop Kitabayashi from barrelling into any of them, but Kitabayashi solved the problem by tripping over. Just like that, the yells decreased to whimpers. Koujiro stopped to catch his breath, and then went over to help Kitabayashi before bringing him over and making him sit down on a large rock near to where Reno and Kinomoto were sitting. Once the smaller boy was settled, Koujiro went over to Fuyumi.

"Katsu's a bit freaked out." He explained, playing with his afro so it wasn't so crumpled atop his head. "He reportedly heard someone singing in the forest, but he couldn't see anyone who could be responsible for the singing. "

"So he assumed it was a ghost?" Tada assumed, thinking of the one snippet he'd managed to glean from the babble.

"Precisely." Koujiro said. "I didn't hear anyone singing though, so I don't know what to make of it…"

"Did someone say something about singing?" Tsukuda appeared from the forest, looking sheepish. "I heard it too. Only really faintly though. "

When her eyes settled on Kitabayashi, she immediately went over to comfort him and shake some sense into him, but her words had everyone fiercely debating about the possibility of a ghost in the forest. As it turned out, Tsukuda and Kitabayashi were not the only ones who had heard the singing. Tada himself hadn't heard the singing, but he found himself wishing he had. _Even though it logically doesn't make sense, maybe this means there's some trace of Mum in these forests._

When Ruko and Izzy arrived, followed by an exhausted Eriko, they were instantly subject to questions.

"I heard some singing." Izzy said. "I just assumed it was one of the girls trying to be found or something."

"Girl? The voice was male, surely?" Eriko asked. "Because when I heard it, it sounded like a boy to me."

"Wait, in the first place, why would anyone be trying to be found in this game anyway?" Ruko wondered.

"I'm not sure." Eriko admitted. "Even so, the voice was not female."

"Nuh-uh, definitely a girl. " Izzy opposed, crossing his arms defensively.

"No, it was male, I agree with Eriko." Tsukuda put in, momentarily turning from where she was dealing with Kitabayashi .

"Why don't we wait, until the others get back?" Haru suggested, holding her hands up as if to ward off an argument. "Then maybe we'll get a better idea of what we're dealing with."

"Ah, that's true!" Ayako agreed. "Right now, I'm too beat."

"Says the person who got caught first." Koujiro teased. Ayako stuck her tongue out at him, and they just lazed for a few moments. When they caught sight of someone else arriving, they all sat up and waited.

"Why are you all staring at me as if I'm the second coming?" Kuroba demanded. A bright-eyed Reimiya peered out from behind him, and Reno immediately went to her.

"Hey, Reno?" Reimiya beamed up at her cousin. "Did you hear the sad person singing in the forest?"

"You heard it too?" Reno gasped. Reimiya nodded, gathering that she'd said something that was important to them all.

"S-sure I did. Why? Is something going on?"

"Possibly the fact that you just witnessed a ghost." Tada suggested, straight-faced. Reimiya went goggle-eyed.

"A ghost? That might explain why I didn't see anyone when I decided to go looking." The way Reimiya smiled suggested that this was a joke on her part and that she didn't actually believe in ghosts.

"That's also why you got caught." Kuroba added, cuttingly. _That really was not needed._ Reno glared at Kuroba, who just looked down his nose at Reno. Reimiya, seeing the tension, smartly tugged Reno away, and they went to stand with Tada and Fuyumi.

"So, that makes about seven of us who heard this person. " Fuyumi said. "Definitely, there's something going on, but what?"

"Ah, who knows?" Tada hadn't noticed that Jori had come along with Kuroba and Reimiya until then, but sure enough, she had. "I need to go back and find Tsuwabuki-sa…actually, maybe not."

Tada followed Jori's gaze to see Tsuwabuki wandering out of his own accord, seeming to make mental notes on something. He didn't look up to acknowledge them or any of his surroundings until Fuyumi asked him about the singing. When she did, he looked up and blinked at them.

"Why, yes I did, Yukimura-kun. I've been trying to find the music player the music could have been coming from, but to no avail."

"Uh…what?" _At least,_ Tada thought, _that explains the mess of his hands._

"I figured that someone in the class had been listening to music, but they dropped their player and left it going. Lots of things have been dropped in that forest, after all."

"Yeah, but you realise that there was only the singing, right? No guitars or keyboards or anything?" Tsukuda pointed out. Tsuwabuki shrugged.

"Acapella." Hana commented. Nobody paid much heed to this.

"You cannot discount the spirits of the forest , or their powers, so easily." Azama commented idly. "Such beings are beyond our understanding." Nobody paid much heed to this comment, either. _And rightfully so,_ Tada mentally added, sweat-dropping. Azama's insistence on speaking cryptically was a bit too much at times, and it didn't help that he was so casual while he was at it.

"So what did it sound like to you?" Tada asked, interested.

"The voice was clear and ringing, but a little wobbly, as if the singer was trying not to cry. And genderless. That's about it, really. I wasn't paying too much attention, because I was trying to see where the music had come from. Or, failing that, some other treasures. I've found a lot of little things every time I've come digging –keyrings, exercise books, bus passes, coins, jewellery, other trinkets. Lots of things. Maybe, if we end up meeting other former 3E members while we're ending the End Class, I can return some of these objects to their owners. " Tsuwabuki mused.

"So you could have ended up finding the person who was singing." Yukiyama stated coldly. Tsuwabuki looked at him, askance, and nodded. Yukiyama's expression hardened.

"It's not as if that person was meddling in your business or anything. Who the hell cares why there was a singing person in that forest? Let him be. " Clearly, the singing had struck something in Yukiyama, and now he was angry on the behalf of the voice. Tsuwabuki just stared at him, slack-jawed.

"I didn't mean to imply anything bad, Yukiyama-kun." Tsuwabuki tried. When Yukiyama's annoyance didn't fade from his face, Tsuwabuki made a gesture of surrender and sloped off to Haru and Kinomoto.

"What song was it?" Hana piped up. All eyes bored into her. _How does that help?_ But Tsuwabuki seemed happy to oblige.

"Well, I didn't hear all the words well, but I think part of it went ' Hello shooting star, hello shooting star again…'" Tsuwabuki's voice was a bit thin, but unmistakably masculine, and therefore not the one responsible, as that type of voice wouldn't have had its listeners so divided over gender.

"Hello shooting star, hello shooting star again,  
matteita yo  
yume o miru, ano ko wa zutto  
koko in iru no,  
ah, ah,  
ano hi no mama,  
ah, ah  
Hello shooting star, hello shooting star again,  
matteiru no,  
yume o miru, noo yamanaide,  
naiteitemo,  
ah, ah,  
waratteitemo,  
ah, ah,  
mata hikatte…"

Again, everyone looked at Hana, surprised not only by her singing ability, but the fact she had decided to sing in the first place. She lowered her eyes and tugged at the sleeves of her P.E jacket , hiding her hands as if that in turn would make her invisible.

"It's an old song, but a good one." She said by way of explanation, shuffling uncomfortably and still looking at the ground.

"Those were definitely the words that were being sung. " Yukiyama said, mollified by Hana's sweet voice. "Do you know the rest of the words?"

Hana nodded.

"I'll find the lyrics and send it to you by a school email, if you like." She said. Yukiyama nodded at that, then retreated into himself again.

"So….we basically have a random singing intruder who might or might not be a ghost, but who is into old but beautiful songs? Either that or we just had a random mass hallucination." Tsukuda said. "That's just freaking weird."

 _Weird, but I want to hear it. I want to hear that ghost._

"I-I-I-I I don't w-w-want to go into t-t-t-the forest anymore! W-what if it's an evil ghost?" Kitabayashi moaned. Tsukuda patted him on the shoulder, but apart from that nobody responded to Kitabayashi.

"Which means we have to bide our time." Kuroba said. "Whatever the singing originated from, if it isn't some random one-off fluke, it'll make itself known to us soon enough. "

"Exactly!" Tada agreed. "I don't think we're in any danger or anything, so I think for now we should just leave it be and carry on with other things. Like the mid-terms, for example. "

This time, nobody groaned at the mentions of mid-terms, and they all just nodded.

"Good idea. But while we're at it, perhaps whenever I go digging I can look for any traces the owner of that voice may have left behind." Tsuwabuki suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Fuyumi said. The others voiced their agreement, and then after a few more moments to collect their thoughts, they all went to change and get ready to go home, discussing silly things. Light things. Certainly nothing as serious as ghosts.

 **…**

 _Ah, I messed up._ He put out the little fire with which he'd cooked the bird he'd managed to hunt down for his dinner, and set about hiding the traces of it. He'd been so good at keeping away from the inquisitive eyes of this year's children as he remained hidden, especially since there were those few students that tended to enjoy wandering the forest at break times and after school- the one who looked like he'd barricaded himself with broken glass intrigued him the most-but that afternoon he'd just been so lonely. He'd been convinced that if he didn't hear his own voice, it would mean that he was fading away. So he had sung to himself. He had sung that old, old song, and reassured himself of his own existence. _With the song that was her favourite._

He just hadn't expected that at that time, one of the children would actually hear him. He'd been here long enough to know that they were teaching themselves P.E, and that the approach they'd taken in doing so was to focus on self-defence skills in many varieties. The mirror that their approach put up to his own life didn't escape his notice, but he'd somehow just assumed that this would keep them safely on the grass, and even if they had been able to hear him from there, they would assume that it was just the radio. But no. This time they'd branched out, and the result was a bunch of terrified children. And he was to blame.

 _But I didn't want it to turn out like this. I'm meant to be observing the proceedings benevolently._ But it had, and he only had himself to blame. Just like he had so many other mistakes he could not erase with the evidence of his good intent, he could not undo the fact he'd become a 'ghost', a source of fear, to the ones who least deserved it. Lamenting silently at his short-sightedness, he got up, and kicked the last bits of the bonfire into the ground. He'd be heading to the convenience store sooner or later. No matter how good he was at hiding traces of himself, fires were still risky.

 **…**

Getting to the end of another page of the English worksheet, Asami stretched and yawned. The words blinked up at her, a jumble of bizarre pen-strokes. She really didn't like this subject, at all, but it was a core subject, and these particular topics would be in the mid-term exams, so she had to do this. There was no use in hiding away from it. _Someone had to stand and face things, after all._ Neither Kei nor Hana were much good at that, so naturally the role fell to her. It was bloody annoying, but what else to do?

Tamping down on her dread, she picked up the red pen she used to mark her own work, and flicked to the answers before buckling down and self-assessing. For a solid twenty minutes, she thought of and perceived nothing more than the studying she was doing. Then, she sat back and stared at the worksheet, and the large amounts of red decorating it. It looked almost morbidly like blood, and she thought about how Hiro had told her that purple was better for marking work. She'd vehemently disagreed, telling her friend/rival that red was better because it stood out well, and let you know what your mistakes were without any hesitation. And that was precisely what was needed when studying for any tests, especially when it came to your worst subjects. How else could she conquer them and get better at things?

 _Hana,_ she thought instantly. _Hana is good at this kind of thing. English isn't just weird markings to her._ Of course, Hana had her own mid-terms to deal with, and hers would be more important in a way, but if it turned out she was currently studying, at least the two of them could study together. Even if they were worlds apart in their school-lives now, Asami really missed studying with Hana. Those had been good times, no matter how cloud-headed her twin was. So she swept up her books and sheets and pens, and headed over to Hana's room. On the way, she passed Kei's door, and she thought about dropping in, but she couldn't decide what she would say to him if she did. Just rehashes of the same old, same old, no doubt. So she abandoned that idea and went straight to Hana's room.

Only to find her making origami cranes.

"Hana!" Asami spluttered, lost for words. Hana looked up and blinked at Asami's form, seemingly not registering her for a moment. But once she did, a wavering smile spread across her face. She tugged at the tail of the crane she was holding, making the wings of the paper creation flap happily.

"Are you okay, Asami-Chan?" she asked, concern in her voice as she tilted her head at Asami.

"Not now!" Asami fumed. "You're meant to be studying, you know? Mid-terms and all that?" she didn't hesitate in marching across the room and scrutinising Hana's desk. And then she wilted a bit, for although Hana had made a whole lot of birds and there were pieces of paper on the desk that indicated that she wasn't done yet, there was a text book open, and a sheet full of notes in Hana's familiar hand-writing. _Ah, once again, my assumptions get stamped on. But even so, I have a right to be concerned, don't I? Don't I?_

"Ah." Hana said in response to Asami's flurry. "Ahh…."

Asami just narrowed her eyes at her twin. An air of introspection grew around them, and Hana concentrated on her little bird for a while, before putting it down almost wistfully.

"So, what is it you want to study?" Hana asked, pointing to Asami's bundle.

"English." Asami stated shortly. Deciding that it wasn't worth tidying Hana's desk, she sat down on Hana's fluffy panda rug and set out her sheets. Hana picked up her own work and sat down opposite her, and for a while, they kept a sort of equilibrium, talking about nothing more taxing than the English topics they were studying. And in those moments, Asami could pretend that they were actually in the same class, that both of them were just fine and destined for successes. The strain melted away and seemed like nothing more than a fantasy.

But it couldn't last. After a while, Hana fidgeted, became restless, and pulled at the unravelling threads on her clothes. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, but these were all easy things for Asami to ignore. It wasn't so easy to ignore the change in mood when Hana decided to get up and pick up one of her origami cranes and sit down again to play with it.

"Oi, Hana! What are you even doing? What happened to the questions?" _So much for the equilibrium. We're not the same anymore. We can't be, not after all this._

"Don't you have a wish, Asami-Chan?" Hana murmured dreamily, referring to the old belief about a wish coming true if you made 1000 paper cranes. Or something. Asami held no truck with superstitions, and Hana's reference to one annoyed her.

"Hana." She gritted her teeth. Hana just sighed sadly and made the bird's wings flap. _I want to say that the birds are really well made. That they're pretty, and I'd like one to decorate my desk. But that would be avoiding the real issues here, goddammit- you can't survive on origami alone!_

"What? Don't tell me you're not wishing that your mid-terms will go alright."

"Of course I want to do well." Asami spat out. "That would be why I'm _studying_. I'm not leaving things up to chances and obsolete faith!"

"Chances and obsolete faith….poetic of you, Asami. " Hana smiled blissfully. "But I think, a fail-safe is needed, sometimes. Because even when you _work_ , sometimes it doesn't _work out_. And when that happens, why would you continue? There's just no point. "

As if to emphasise the pointlessness which she spoke of, Hana lay down on the panda rug and stretched out her arms as if making a snow-angel. Asami clicked her teeth irritably, and got up, ready to say something else, and then Hana asked her another weird question.

"Do you think Onii-san saw a ghost, during his time?"

Hana didn't elaborate what she meant by 'his time', but Asami knew that she was referring to the year Kei had been in Class 3E. The year that had turned him into a shadow of what he had been before. A ghost, even, like Hana's nonsensical words. _Forget this, forget this all!_

She got up and scooped up her sheets and pens, and strode out of the room without a single hesitation.

"You'd better get back to studying." She flung the words over her shoulder as an after-thought, and made her way to her room. This time, when she passed her big brother's room, she didn't hesitate, and she barged in.

As usual, Kei was sitting at his computer, deep in thought as he responded to whatever it is he was reading on-screen. His light brown hair was tousled, and he was in his pyjamas. The room itself were a mess- clothes and papers and even a few cups and plates. A poetry anthology was open and face-down on the pillow, as if it had decided it wanted to sleep. _At least he isn't sitting in the dark, and at least he isn't hunched over._

"What is it, Asami?" he intoned, tonelessly, typing never ceasing. The pounding irritated her, and she shook her head to get rid of the feeling.

"Clean your room. It looks like a pigsty. If you're just going to stay in here all the time, the least you could do is improve your living conditions!"

"Why?" Kei snapped, stopped typing and turned, fixing Asami with a dead gaze. "Does it matter, really? This isn't _your_ room."

"I….I…." Asami stuttered and spluttered and hesitated. " You're impossible. Fine, whatever, wallow in your own mess! I have mid-terms, you know!"

"Yeah, I know." Kei was toneless again as he returned to the computer screen and Asami rushed out and back to her own room. She busied herself with putting things away, with rearranging her pen, before flopping back on her bed and hugging the teddy bear she'd won while at the funfair with Hana and Kei, what now seemed like eras ago.

She figured that at this point, she was more than entitled to take a break. Just a short one, though. _I have responsibilities._ She had the mid-terms to study for, and even after that there would be more studying. That was just the way things were in Kunugigaoka, and she wanted to stay on top of those things. Not to mention, she was the female Class Representative for her class. That wasn't just a fancy title, it was a _duty_. She couldn't spend all her time chasing after her siblings and indulging in their dreams and superstitions. She lived in the real world, and that was how she had to measure up her actions. According to the real world.

 _So why_ , she thought as she squeezed the teddy bear even harder, _why does it feel like I'm abandoning them?_

 **So...some very interesting things occurred in this chapter^^. And I just made the AssClass ending song relevant to the plot- I just couldn't resist, ehehe.**

 **Anyway, as usual, please leave feedback, and don't forget the Tumblr tag!**


	14. Kindness Without Agenda

**This chapter has a section with Hasegawa's POV in it. It didn't take me long to realise the story wouldn't be well rounded if we didn't have some main campus perspectives as well. Hence Asami's section last chapter, and now Hasegawa's. Although apart from setting up misfortune and emphasising that Hasegawa is a creep, I'm not sure how good that section is anyway.**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

"Good morning, Tachibana-kun, Oikawa-kun, Akiyama-Chan!"

The three that Tada greeted as he walked through the main campus gates with Hiro stared at him as if he'd been beamed down from another planet.

"Eh, you talking to us, E-Class student?" Oikawa enquired dispassionately. At one time, they'd been friendly acquaintances, and occasional lab-partners in science. But that was then. Now, they were opponents in an invisible struggle. A demeaning thought, to be sure. But Tada wasn't deterred.

"Yeah, I was." He said. "But anyway, I'm not intending to stay on campus long, so I'd better be off now. Bye!"

Hiro followed up with a cheerful wave of her own, and they left the three main-campus students in their wake, blinking like lost owls. Tada felt sure that all three students were a little lost for words, which was a good thing. _Treat them as you normally would-_ this was his mantra now, and he intended to stick to it as much as he could. He wasn't going to let them beat him down.

But as they headed towards the school library, they did not encounter many people. It was rather early, after all, even for them. But Tada had a mission in mind, and he intended to see it through. His class needed all the advantages they could get. Hiro agreed, and had said she'd back him up if need be. As she also had library books she needed to borrow out for revision, her accompanying him killed two birds with one stone. And that made him happy.

When they entered the library, they actually stopped and blinked. All the people that they would see milling around the gates and on the road when they journeyed to school at the usual time were sitting in the library, all absorbed in their textbooks, or doing revision exercises on the computer. A few were at the various counters, asking the librarians for various things. In some particularly sorry cases, it looked as if they'd been dwelling in the library the whole night.

" _It's like the stereotype of university students cramming like mad for finals. "_ Hiro signed after tapping Tada to get his attention. He nodded seriously.

" _In a way, that isn't too far from the truth_." He signed back rapidly. He was about to sign something else to Hiro, when he noticed a girl with frizzy brunette hair had put down her book to stretch and had caught sight of their gestures. She scrutinised them both with unblinking, unfriendly hazel eyes, and then her lip-sticked mouth twisted into a sneer. _Hold on a moment, lipstick?_ Hiro narrowed her eyes coldly in return, then turned away and started walking towards the bookshelves where her required books were shelved, but Tada stayed to eyeball the girl, hoping to squeeze some apology out of her. Moments passed, and then the girl scowled and re-buried herself in the textbook. _Oh well. At least she didn't say anything._

Tada let out a deep breath, and then walked to one of the counters where the queue only consisted of a few frantic looking students returning books and borrowing out more again. Because of this, it didn't take long for him to reach the counter himself.

"Yes, what service do you require?" The middle-aged, muscular man at the counter asked automatically.

"I would like to book some library table tickets please." Tada said politely, giving the man a small smile. He had heard from Isogai that around exam times, the tables in the library were very coveted spaces, so the best thing to do was to book them in advance. When explaining, Isogai had used the idea of platinum tickets to a rock concert as an analogy, but Tada had got the basic idea anyway. He and the rest of the class could certainly manage the mid-terms without using school facilities, but he thought that for the two sets of end-of-terms that they'd have to sit, he'd take advantage of the school library. Hence, he was booking tickets way in advance for both terms, just to be safe.

The man nodded briskly, then brought up something on his computer. After a few clicks and other such things, he looked back up at Tada.

"Name?"

"Tadaomi Kitakawa."

"Year Group?"

"Third Year. Junior High." Tada wasn't sure if Kunugigaoka's High-School division had their own library. All he really knew about it was that although they had the same principal, and were right next to each other, the Junior High and the High School were treated as separate entities with separate events and separate school councils and other such things. The only event they had in common was the annual school festival. Then, of course, there was the whole elevator system thing, but since Tada was no longer eligible for that (nor would he have taken advantage of it if he had been), he didn't care about that.

"I figured as much." The man said dryly to Tada's clarification. Tada squirmed, feeling stupid, but the man didn't dwell on it anymore.

"So, what class are you in then?"

"Class 3-" suddenly, he was shoved away by a random boy.

"Takanashi-san, could you check in these books for me?! _Please_?!" the man smiled at the boy, indicating familiarity.

"Of course, Maeda-kun. Hold on a moment please, Kitakawa-kun." Takanashi apologised to Tada. Not thinking much of it, Tada nodded and stepped to the side a little and waited. Instantly, the boy-Maeda- took out a tower of books from his bag and stacked them on the table.

"There are three I need to renew out of these. They are…" Maeda instantly reeled off the book titles, then proceeded to engage Takanashi in conversation. Takanashi seemed happy to oblige, and Tada tried his best to not show his annoyance- if the librarian and the student were friendly, then he would be the one in the wrong if he tried to hurry things along. Besides, he'd come in early because he'd anticipated delays.

"Ahh, sorry, are you _waiting_?" Maeda caught Tada by surprise, but didn't allow him to answer. "I should be finished _soon_. Soon."

The way Maeda enunciated certain words gave away his true intentions in taking up Takanashi's time. Instantly, Tada glared, and curled his hands into fists. Maeda laughed, making it seem as if it was in response to something funny that Takanashi had said, and then turned his back on Tada completely. All he could do was wait until Maeda was finished, and then he stepped up again, and told Takanashi what class he was in. Takanashi didn't react to Tada's class number, instead briskly entering the details and continuing the process of getting the tickets. But it wasn't long before they were interrupted again, by a girl this time. And then it kept happening, over and over and over again. Student after student, having sniffed out an opportunity, swarmed towards Takanashi's desk to ask for what they needed, even as other staff members became free.

"Excuse me, I'm sure you haven't noticed and that's why you keep coming up, but I am actually trying to serve a student here." Takanashi sighed eventually when the next person-a girl- pushed Tada out of the way so hard he nearly fell to the floor.

"Oh, what, him?" The girl turned to snigger at Tada, and he realised this was the lip-sticked girl who had sneered at Hiro. "He's a member of 3E! You're meant to give priority to us main campus students, Librarian-san!" WE'RE all actually trying to better ourselves here, unlike the timewasters of his kind!"

"Don't cause a disturbance, please, miss. You wouldn't want to be lumped in with them, would you?" Takanashi cautioned. _Does he mean that? Or is it a way for him to try and send that girl off?_

"Pfft, its fine, I'm finished. " The girl puffed out an annoyed breath. "Hey, if anyone else wants to come, then this counter is free!" With that, she began to slink away. A few students had gathered around by then, moths to a flame. _Or in this case, drama._ When they caught Tada's eye, they showed contempt openly, but while looking at each other, they hesitated, unsure. He didn't look away though, and just watched as they jostled to each other and whispered to each other.

Eventually, they seemed to decide they didn't actually need anything (or that they couldn't make something up that would properly prevent Takanashi from helping him) so they all drifted back to whatever they were doing. A few students remained though-all in Tada's year- and they continued to whisper amongst themselves until they gave up and pushed a boy carrying his own huge pile of books to the front, egging him on to go to the counter. Tada couldn't see they boy's face due to the large pile he was carrying, but there was something familiar in his gait.

"No, I'll wait. I can see that somebody is waiting. It would be impolite to push in." The voice caused Tada to nearly stumble over again. It was Ueno. Tada opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind, then changed his mind again. He was fully aware that he looked like a goldfish, but he couldn't find a more intelligent response. _Ueno-kun is…helping me?_

"U-uh, thank you!" Tada eventually said, grateful. Ueno didn't say anything, and indeed averted his eyes to avoid any more interactions. But Tada was pretty sure that Ueno had inclined his head very, very slightly, as if to say 'no problem.' But he couldn't tell, and there was no use in stretching things out, so Tada turned to Takanashi and quickly completed the booking of the tickets.

"Oi, what did you do that for, sempai?" Tada heard the brunette girl ask Ueno. _I thought she'd left. Maybe she's like a mosquito, except she feeds off misery instead of blood._ "That's a 3E deadbeat, and a retarded one too!"

"Ah, retarded?" Ueno quizzed. "I am fully aware of the 3E student's lowliness, but I don't think he could medically be diagnosed as retarded."

"I _saw_ him, using sign language or some shit like that with some other retard girl who looks like him to the point it's unreal. Pah, it's not like it matters! They're all the same, these 3E losers. Don't they have some screening process in place here or something? They let in too many retards this time as well as last year, it seems!"

"Hey, don't talk about Hiro like-" finished with the tickets, Tada practically flew over to the girl, but Ueno interrupted, and talked over him like he wasn't there.

"I think you must be mistaken. I don't doubt you saw that boy communicating in sign language with a girl, because there is actually a hearing-impaired girl in my year. But she isn't retarded. Far from it. Infact, she's actually in Class 3A, and is one of the highest achievers in that class, especially in maths."

Tada's jaw dropped open, again. This time, he didn't make an effort to close it. As Ueno continued to explain to the girl why she was mistaken, he looked at all the occupied tables, and mentally noted which ones corresponded to the numbers on his tickets. He also spotted the ones where he'd seen the 3E of the year before sit. He remembered how he'd greeted them whenever he'd seen them, and how surprised they had been that he'd do such a thing. And how he hadn't known who they were until Tsukuda had told him. _I wonder, will anyone extend that sort of kindness to us?_

" _And_ she's my twin sister. So don't say things like that about her in front of me _ever_ again. Understand?" Tada put in, if only to make the younger girl's jaw drop just a little lower. Now it was Tada's turn to sneer, and he did so gladly. _Serve you right for your stupid prejudices, and your stupid make-up too. Hiro is better than you ever could be._ He turned to Ueno, and tried to thank him again.

"If you don't want another strike against you, I recommend that you leave now. Your building is far away." Ueno spat out instantly, shattering any possibility of reconciliation. He then turned to Komori and told her not to worry about the mistaken assumptions she had just made. Tada sighed sadly, and then walked away, leaving the library and heading downstairs.

When he got downstairs, he checked the time. As it happened, Ueno had been correct- he needed to be fast if he didn't want to scrape the boundary between 'late' and 'on time'. So he picked up speed, and ran the rest of the way to his campus, trying to make sense of what had happened while he did. _I wonder, will anyone ever extend that sort of kindness to us- the type of kindness that had no agenda, no masks? Will we get that?_

When he got there, he was out of breath, and had to double over for a moment to catch his breath. Once he had, he sat down on the grass properly, and checked the time again. This time, he sighed in relief. There was still time to spare. So he wiped the sweat off his forehead, and listened to the voices of those around him. Some were clearly already in class, but he could hear Haru, Kinomoto and Tsuwabuki over by their flowerbeds, chatting animatedly. He decided to go over and see what was happening.

"Good Morning!" he said chirpily when he got to the flowerbeds. Then he stopped and did a double-take. Where at the very beginning of the year the flowerbeds were little more than miserable brown rectangles, now they were alive with colour and shapes and movement.

"Good Morning!" Kinomoto greeted him in return. "Do you like the flowers? I have to say they flowered better in this soil than I thought they would. "

"Of course he likes them! Look at that face!" Tsuwabuki replied, nodding his own greeting to Tada. Haru also said 'good morning' to him, and then made space so that he could squat down and take a look at the flowers.

"You know, Kinomoto-kun picked all of these flowers for their meaning." Haru said after a pocket of quiet in which Tada had just breathed in the beauty of the flowers.

"Really?" Tada looked up at Kinomoto, who nodded and smiled. "You mean like _hanakotoba_? I've heard of it, but I don't know what any of them mean."

"Then, let me take you through it!" Kinomoto exclaimed, lighting up. "If you don't mind, that is, of course."

"Sure, go for it." Tada said.

"Well," Kinomoto pointed to a spray of small white flowers that Tada didn't know, and then some pinkish-coloured azaleas. "These are white anemones, for sincerity. And azaleas stand for patience or modesty, but in this case I chose them for the meaning of patience. The white chrysanthemums are for truth, the daffodils for respect, and the jasmine usually connotes a meaning of 'friendly' or 'respectful'. The edelweiss are for courage and bravery. "

As he explained each flower, he pointed to them. As it turned out, there were a lot more than Tada had imagined. Violets for honesty, verbena for co-operation, irises for good news, the pink rose for trust, happiness and confidence, and even more than that. Not all of the flowers were yet in bloom, and some were near their end, but Kinomoto and the other two had put a lot of effort into the flowerbeds and the choosing of the flowers, and it all looked amazing. Tada was blown away.

"The honeysuckles on the wall over by that flowerbed are for generosity. And although the forget-me-nots are kind of irrelevant in meaning, they were so pretty that I had to have them here." Haru added when Kinomoto got to the end of his explanation, which had become pretty rambly. Clearly, _hanakotoba_ was something that Kinomoto was more than well-versed in.

"Irrelevant?" Tada asked. He leaned over and touched the petals of the tiny blue forget-me-nots. He rubbed at one of the petals gently. Then he sat back and regarded Haru quizzically.

"Forget-me-nots mean true love." Haru leaned in to sniff at a pink rose and smiled blissfully, even as she answered Tada.

"I know that much. But why does that make the forget-me-nots irrelevant?"

"Because true love isn't really a sentiment associated with the Ending the End Class project, you know?" Kinomoto put in. "And when we decided to plant flowers according to their meaning, we decided to look for meanings that had something to do with what we're trying to do here. Like the traits we need to achieve what we need, and the feelings we're hoping to stir in people as a result."

"I…." Tada looked over at all the flowers again, suddenly seeing them differently. They were the same flowers as before, but now they seemed infinitely more precious. _This is just…beautiful._

"We couldn't find all the sentiments that we wanted to in _hanakotoba_ , so we might dip into the flower language of Victorian Europe to find those, but for now this is what we have. We don't want to clutter up the flowerbeds- it's bad for the plants or something. No, Kinomoto-kun, we DON'T need the ins and outs of that now!" Tsuwabuki added, pulling a face at a very animated Kinomoto with the last sentence. Kinomoto pulled a sulky face at that, and Tsuwabuki pretended not to notice.

"It's not that big a deal, really." Kinomoto returned to his usual placid self. "But, we're not the faces of the class like you and the other representatives are, we're not suited to running the online side of stuff like Takashita-san and Arisato-san are, and the admin stuff that Yukimura-san does…well, I'm sure you get the idea, right, Tada-san? "

"So you see, "Haru finished, her voice almost beseeching. "We figured that this the way we could help out, even if it is insignificant."

"This isn't insignificant!" the words burst out of Tada. "This isn't insignificant or pointless at all. These flower arrangements, the thought and time put into it….it's amazing. And _needed_. Because we're going to need things to hold onto as the year goes on. Things that remind us the world still has good in it. And these flowers, they're one of those things. So really, thank you! You need to show the rest of the class this, seriously! "

The three grinned at Tada. Tada smiled back, feeling the incident from the library melt away slowly, replaced with a warmer and easier-to-bear feeling. Then, Tsuwabuki got up and dusted his trousers.

"I think we should go inside now. " He suggested. Tada agreed, and helped them to clear away the watering cans and other garden tools they had been using. Kinomoto picked off a pink rose that had somehow accidentally got its stalk broken, and handed it to Haru, who tucked it into her hair ribbon as she walked, and with that, they entered the class to start the day.

 **…**

Hasegawa opened his mouth to answer Otsuka's question about the particular time period that their history exam would be covering, when his mobile phone vibrated and made their lunch table shudder. He cast an apologetic look to Otsuka and the other associates, and then picked up his mobile and checked the message.

" _Takeru-Onii-Sama"_ Nana had sent. _"I think there is something you should see. It's about Class 3E and it's rather disturbing."_

Hasegawa looked up and let his eyes wander around the canteen. All around him, students in all three years had books and notes splayed out alongside their lunches, and although the atmosphere in the canteen was more relaxed than in the classroom –for lunch was still essential, after all- the focus in the room could not be missed. Not a single one of the students in the canteen wanted to be brought down to the level of 3E. And so it should be.

It didn't take long for Hasegawa to spot Nana, sitting at a table with some of her other year mates, her back turned to him. Her single braid was as neat as it had been that morning when they'd left the house, not a single raven hair out of place. And her uniform was neat, too. Truly, she was a Hasegawa. When he was in the high-school division and had taken on his brother Ichiro's role as the Student Council President there, Nana would make a more than excellent new Student Council President here. So with that in mind, he texted her back.

" _Okay then. Come over to my table and show it to me in person now."_ Once he sent the message, he watched Nana's table and waited for her to see the message. Once she had, she was very quick in getting up and scanning the room for him. When she spotted him, she wasted no time in striding over to him.

"So, Nana, what is this thing you wanted to show me?"

"Well, it was quite by accident, but Akari had found this website that's supremely useful for Social Studies- it's for students our age, and written by them too- anyway, one of the posts was talking about statistics for…um…bullying." Nana made a distasteful face at the term, then continued her explanation. "And they linked to this."

Nana held her phone out to him. It was opened onto an internet page. The first thing that Hasegawa noticed was the large banner image at the top-an edited photograph of what looked to be a blackboard with colourful writing and drawings on it. Most of those were blurred out, leaving only one circle of words readable: ENDING THE END CLASS. _Hmm, that editing is really very top-notch,_ Hasegawa found himself thinking before pulling himself up short and continuing to look at the whole page.

"May I hold your phone, Nana?" he asked.

"Of course, Takeru-Onii-Sama." Nana said instantly, handing her pink and sparkly phone to him. "It will make it easier for you to look at it."

Hasegawa took the phone, and holding it carefully with one hand, he started to scroll through. As it turned out, the page Nana had come across was from a blog of some sort, which had the same name as the words in the image. The post he was looking at was indeed talking about the current statistics for bullying, in middle schools particularly. The statistics were all correctly quoted, and the writing was fluid, and while it didn't browbeat the reader, it was fairly clear what conclusion the writer wanted them to conclude. One section jumped out at him: _It is easy to just glaze over at the sight of these numbers and then just move on, but would it be so easy to do that if it was made clear at every turn that this data was compiled from people? Real, living, breathing people, people with lives that are more than just numbers on a sheet of paper or a screen._

He scrolled down to see how much attention the post had got. The post had been shared a total of eleven times (including the webpage Nana had been looking at when she'd come across this), and there were some likes through social media. The few comments that had been made were along the lines of ' I totally agree' and 'Great article! This needs to be said.' Hasegawa wondered why Nana had brought this to his attention, and he was going to ask, when something stopped him. He tapped on the banner picture, which instantly took him to the home page. He scrolled down, deciding to scan the various posts that had been done without reading. Titles jumped out: _Analysing the Kunugigaoka School Rule Manual, Study Tips from So-Called Failures, It's Okay to Be Different, Why We Want to End the End Class._ And then there were the photos- they were all snaps of schoolkids being school kids- deep in discussion around desks, laughing and joking, even a few selfies. Hasegawa paused at photographs of what looked to be some students clustered around a table upon which had plates full of bread rolls and bowls full of soup laid out artfully like a restaurant. The shots of some very well-tended flowerbeds also made him think.

But any approval he felt at those images got neatly stashed away, because in every single one of these images, the teenagers in the photographs were none other than the members of the current 3E. _What complete, utter, hopeless losers!_ Hasegawa laughed aloud, attracting strange looks from both Nana and his associates.

"Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Nana." Hasegawa said. "You can go back to your friends now."

"Yes, Takeru-Onii-Sama." There was a query in Nana's eyes, but she was a good girl and didn't question his seeming lack of reaction, and walked away. Once she had, Hasegawa quickly loaded the webpage on his own phone, saved it as a bookmark, and then showed it to the others.

"Well, this is a problem, isn't it?" Maeda commented after a moment.

"Hmm, do you think?" The others looked at Hasegawa in alarm. Otsuka just snorted.

"They're just getting full of themselves! It's actually laughable. They're no threat, no threat at all!" _Ah, but you're wrong, Otsuka-san._ Hasegawa immediately brought Tadaomi Kitakawa to mind. That boy was…something else completely. Hasegawa couldn't get his measure, and it was unsettling.

"Except that they're _actually_ getting attention." Otonashi pointed to the comments under the post that Hasegawa had originally shown. "Which means that somewhere out there, people are actually listening to them."

"So what do we do then?" Fujimura asked." They're clearly forgetting their place. And even if others haven't noticed, it won't take long before this gets more attention. This IS the internet, after all. The most random things can become viral in seconds. "

As someone who enjoyed tinkering with computers and regularly built websites for the hell of it, Fujimura was an authority on the issue, and Hasegawa respected that. But he still thought the other boy was mistaken.

"Ah, don't worry about that." Hasegawa had started to form a plan. "We can still turn this around to our advantage before it gets out of hand."

"You do?" the others all echoed, slack-jawed. Hasegawa chortled.

"Well if you think about it, this just reflects badly on them. It makes them look like desperate, posing attention seekers. Anybody can see that it is attention that they're aiming for with this. For example, the name of the blog has a certain catchiness in English. "

"And there are a whole lot of posts, which seems to indicate that whichever member of the class is in charge of this has been spending a lot of time and effort on this…" Otonashi ventured slowly.

"…which means that they can't possibly be focussing on their studies, even though the mid-terms are coming up…" Fujimura continued, a lightbulb going off in his head.

"…So not only are they justifying their own place in Class 3E, they're digging their own grave!" Otsuka finished triumphantly. She grinned devilishly at Hasegawa. _Yes, they're getting it. That's brilliant._

"Exactly." He nodded seriously. "Exactly. "

"So you're saying we should just leave it, because then they'll show their true colours eventually." Maeda frowned deeply, and picked up the phone to flick through the blog homepage.

"But surely that just sends the message we don't care?! It would be a lot better if we made it clear that we know what they are up to, and as soon as possible! Even better if we took the matter to Principal Okikura and got them punished. "

"And you are utterly correct, Maeda-kun!" Hasegawa proclaimed. "But not about Principal Okikura. I think we'll be able to manage this situation by ourselves. After all, for all their posturing, they're still the weak ones. They're at the bottom of the food chain, and they know it. In fact, I'm fairly sure that they're scared of it- that's why this is happening." Again, the faces of Class 3E's representatives flashed in his mind, and again he shook it away. _Something tells me that it'll take a lot to get Tadaomi Kitakawa to give up, but I'll make him do so. One step at a time though. One step at a time._

Hasegawa gestured to Maeda, who nodded and handed back his phone, still frowning. The others at his table exchanged looks, then Fujimura spoke up.

"Are you suggesting we 'troll' them, to use an inelegant term?" Fujimura tapped a rhythm on the table. "I'm all for it, but that'll take time. "

"And there are our mid-terms." Otonashi appealed. Hasegawa turned his most charming smile on the boy.

"I know…which is why I am going to create a rota for us to use. I can use our statistics module to predict how much we need to do to get that blog down, and how long it'll take. "

"Ah, of course!" Otonashi agreed.

"I'm all for it!" Otsuka declared. Her lip curled at the very thought of 3E. Hasegawa nodded at her, and then became serious again. He snagged a piece of blank paper from his own pile of work, then found a pen.

"So," he said. "Let's get down to business."

 _Tadaomi Kitakawa, whatever you're up to with your school-defying acts, it's not going to last long. Kunugigaoka has lasted over forty years- the Asano name saw to that in the beginning, and now it's time for the Hasegawa name to carry that on. You won't last._

 **…**

Ayako hummed and ahhed at her English worksheet, eyes going to her laptop all the time. She really wanted to keep her promise to the others and carry on studying for the mid-terms, as they were only a week away, but the lure of the Ending the End Class blog was too much. There was that adorable photograph of Reimiya by the flowerbeds, a butterfly on her nose, for one thing. Then she had to check the comments and reply to all of them. The blog was modest, but the reception had been positive so far- always a promising sign. Soon, they could extend out- flyers, adverts, and even their own leaflets to counter Kunugigaoka's propaganda. There were other things, she was sure, but she hadn't thought of them yet. She would do soon, that was for sure. The possibilities were just too endless.

Her fingers twitched, and she slowly edged her chair across so she was in front of her laptop when her phone rang out. She glanced at the screen, fully intending to ignore it, but she saw it was a video call. Only one person she knew did video calls instead of typical calls. So against her better instinct, she answered it.

"Hey, Hiro-san!" Ayako propped up the phone against a stack of books to make handling the video call easier. Hiro's face grinned out of the screen.

"Hey, Ayako. Are you studying?" _Damn, she doesn't waste time._

"Course I am!" Ayako grinned, picking up the worksheet and waving it at the screen so Hiro could see. " See?"

Hiro-on-screen nodded seriously. When she didn't immediately respond, Ayako checked the lighting of her room. She'd wondered why Hiro always used video calls before, but now she knew the reason she found herself a little anxious, conscious that Hiro was reliant upon lip-reading.

"Don't worry, Ayako. I can see just fine." Hiro said, making Ayako jump. "I was just wondering how close you were to giving up on the work and going to the blog."

"Eheheh! Checking up on me?" Ayako laughed heartily to hide her embarrassment at being that transparent. Hiro just sighed and face-palmed.

"Tada was right." Hiro stated matter-of-factly. "Good thing he asked me to check on you during a break of my own, right?"

"Good grief, you must be psychic."

"Not particularly, but if that makes you feel better, feel free to think that." Hiro was utterly straight-faced at this, making Ayako splutter.

"Y-You! "

"Yes, me."

"Oh gosh. You're just as random as your brother, you know. Say, Hiro-san, why don't we study together for now? You stay on the phone and we do the same worksheets and stuff and show it to each other?"

"No, thank you." Hiro declined politely. "But if you want to text me with questions later then go for it."

"Awwww." Ayako pouted. "It would have been easier to study if I wasn't alone….but okay. I'll just continue now."

"Okay then, I won't keep you." Hiro said. "Good luck!" with that, the call ended, and Ayako leaned back and stretched out. Then, she returned her phone to its flat position, and went straight to the laptop. Hiro wouldn't know if she just spent a few seconds checking up on their social media. _Just a few seconds, then straight back to work, Ayako! That's for Ending the End Class too, you know…_

She hummed happily as she booted up the laptop and logged into the email account she'd set up for the purpose. The inbox flashed happily: _Twenty new messages._ Every single one was a comment on various articles and photographs.

"Woo-hoo!" Ayako did a mini celebratory fist-pump in the air, then clicked on the first one. "Awesome sauce! Lets' see what the world has to say about…oh. What…what's this?"

Her little happy monologue died on her lips, and her blood ran cold. _This isn't right. I need to do something, tell someone. Tell Tada-kun, Eriko-san, Tsukuda-san…_

But all she could do was sit there, staring at the vicious words that sapped at her, letter by horrible letter.

 **Disclaimer: I know nothing about gardening except for the fact my mum often ropes me into doing random errands in our garden, and I definitely know nothing about _hanakotoba_ /the language of flowers apart from what I 'researched' for this chapter. So any mistakes in those regards are all my own. **

**Anyway, please leave feedback!**


	15. More than Midterms

**So...yeah, probably should have pointed out that last chapter's cliff-hanger wasn't really going to be a direct cliff-hanger as such. That is to say, this chapter doesn't pick up directly where the previous one left off. It will be picked up though, don't worry.**

 **Anyway, you're getting an early update as a combination of severe procrastination, a good mood, and some good news I happened to get. The thing I am procrastinating is writing up my lecture notes for this week (language production and lexicalisation processes is a pretty heavy topic to sludge through). The good news I got is...well, remember I had a job interview for a Saturday job a while back? Well, today I got a call saying that I've been given the job! Yay, my first ever job! I'm supposed to be starting in a couple of weeks time. So while I am a bit O.O about it, I feel like I'm actually a valid adult now. Plus, some of the scenes in this were really very inspired, of the type that almost write themselves, particularly Hana's scene and Yukiyama's scene, which makes me proud of myself.**

 **Anyway, on to the chapter!**

Hana awoke to the music of raindrops against her window. That rain, relentless, was the first thing she noticed. The second thing was that it was really dark, meaning it was still a long time before she even _needed_ to wake up. A glance at her toadstool-shaped bedside clock with the glow-in-the-dark hands told her that it was indeed early- 3:15 in the morning, to be precise.

With this knowledge, she stayed still in her bed for a moment, dead silent. Time ticked away, a bit at a time, and she soon realised that she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again. So carefully, she eased herself out of bed, and located her two portable nightlights. After some hesitation, she went for the one shaped like a rainbow spiral lollipop, rather than the toadstool which matched her clock, and clicked it on, surrounding herself with a low blueish white glow. She held out the lollipop, and the glow fell on the calendar hung up above her desk. Then, she noticed her third thing for that day.

" _MID-TERMS!"_ Asami's writing bellowed in the small square for today's date.

Hana allowed herself a sigh at that. _The mid-terms really are today. Great._ She sat down at her desk and felt her spirits sink. She wasn't looking forward to the midterms _at all,_ not least because it necessitated going to the main campus. Why they couldn't just do the tests in their own classroom and have Ichijou send the papers over she didn't know. Or at least, that's what she told herself. Truthfully, she knew perfectly well. It was so that the main campus students had their chances to regularly ridicule 3E more than usual.

 _Still, at least Asami will be there. We can walk together._ Except that would be another lie she was trying to tell herself. Walking to school in the mornings was a tradition that belonged to _before_. Lamenting silently, she turned the lollipop onto the neat lines of origami cranes that were currently residing at the back of her desk. She was nowhere near the thousand needed for a wish to come true. Hana picked up one, thinking about Asami's annoyed reaction to seeing her make the cranes that day she'd come for help in English. In typical Asami-fashion, her assumptions had been both right and wrong. Yes, she was making cranes because she was wishing for something, but it wasn't what Asami thought.

" _We could say 'sorry' over and over, and we could get down on our knees and beg you for forgiveness, because the signs were all there in a way." Megu said. "But those would be just platitudes. What use would that be?"_

 _Hana blinked. For a moment she looked at the plates and snacks her classmates had left behind when they'd exited the café. Truth be told, platitudes were what she'd been expecting. Raw honesty mixed potently with sympathy, not so much.._

" _I….I…thank you." She managed to stutter eventually. "So…how often did you actually manage to see Onii-san? Did you see him at all?" Hana waited with bated breath, almost afraid of the answer. After all, she'd seen first-hand how his morale had wasted away over that year._

" _A few times. We saw him a few times." Isogai answered. "I remember his poetry. He used to do little impromptu poetry performances when he saw us, in the first term."_

"' _Do not go gentle into that good night._

 _Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.'"_

 _After a pause, Isogai recited the line of the poems with an inwards expression, as if extracting the words from a place deep within. Hana found herself grinning at Isogai's English accent and nodding along. She remembered that poem too. She remembered most of the poems. How could she not?_

" _And didn't he used to say that he'd start his own school or something?" Megu asked. "I remember a boy saying that to us one April? That was Kei Aoshima-kun, wasn't it?"_

" _Yeah, it was!" Maehara looked at Hana for confirmation, and she nodded._

" _He hated-hates-hated how impersonal and cold Kunugigaoka's system was. He thought it was trying to leach the humanity out of humanity. Even when he was in first year, he used to rage to us about just how bad it was, and he'd vow that once he'd finished with school, he'd build his own school, with his own system. One that would be a whole lot more compassionate, which would look for the worth in each and every student, which would not institutionalise rampant discrimination. It would train the students to be resilient, but also remind them of the importance of being kind. He even thought of creating his own curriculum and teacher training program specifically for use by this school of his, using all sorts of different tea…"_

 _Hana shuddered to an unforgiving halt. She'd been going on about how Kei's future school would be as if he was still fired up, still planning. What was wrong with her? She stared down at the table, suddenly humiliated. She could feel the three adults exchange loaded looks with each other above her heads._

 _Then, suddenly, she felt a warm weight clap her shoulder, and she looked up to see Maehara reaching over and looking at her seriously, but with sparkles in his improbably cheeky eyes. Isogai gave her a kind smile, and Megu looked as if she was ready to envelop her in a hug if needed. And just like that Hana realised that for the first time she was in the company of people who did not judge her any worse for being in 3E. Who, more importantly, still thought of Kei as a worthy person despite being told of the shell he'd become. The type of people that Kei would have trusted, she was sure. And so, she would trust them too._

Still holding the crane, Hana smiled to herself, as she thought of the rest of the conversation she'd had with the three, and how afterwards she'd practically floated home. Her worries hadn't disappeared, but for those hours they didn't even matter. But they still did. Of course they did.

"Flap, flap, flappy flap flap." She giggled quietly, like a much younger child, as she let the crane's wings flap. While the bird flapped in her hands, she flicked a look over at the other birds. They definitely weren't enough for a single wish. And certainly not enough for two wishes, which was precisely what she was aiming for. One wish to help Tada end the End Class successfully, and another wish to bring Kei back to the world, so that he could replace the End Class with the visions he'd once had. Nothing at all to do with mid-terms, as Asami had seemed to think.

 _But Asami-Chan, you're wishing for good results too. No matter how you dress it up in your rationality, you're still wishing_. Hana let the bird rest in her lap, and it looked up its paper beak at her balefully. Surely she could spare a bird for her own sister? It wasn't as if she was wanting for paper to make the amount she needed. And one of her wishes, the second wish, was surely something that Asami was wishing for too. After all, they were both Kei's sisters. _Yes. Yes, I can._

With that decision made, she daydreamed and doodled the excess hours away until her normal wake-up time, then wandered into the bathroom to brush her teeth, nodding as Asami wandered in a few seconds later to do the same thing. When she returned to her bedroom to change, she did so extra carefully and quietly, listening out for Asami's noises.

"HANA!" Asami's voice blasted through her door, even if the girl herself didn't. "Are you fully changed yet?!"

"No!" Hana lied as she teased knots out of her long hair. She could practically hear Asami's eyes roll in response to this.

"Bloody hell, Hana, why are you being slow today of all days? Ah, never mind, I'll leave you to it. Make sure you hurry up so you have time for breakfast!"

"Of course." Hana sing-songed. Asami's footsteps retreated and started down the stairs, and as Hana dealt with her hair she listened carefully for the silence that would return when Asami was safely downstairs. Once that silence had come, she waited a few more seconds, then quickly padded over to her desk, picked up the lone origami crane she'd been fiddling with earlier, and then snuck out of her room and rushed to Asami's room. Once she got there, she hesitated, hoping that she wouldn't get caught by her mother or Asami. If Kei saw her, he'd probably flinch and retreat to his own den, so she had nothing to worry about on his count. _Yes, I do._

When she confirmed that she was indeed alone upstairs, she quickly went to Asami's desk, and carefully placed the bird directly in the middle of the desk. Then, she stepped back and studied it. To her mind, it looked content there. She gave a satisfied nod, settled in knowing that she was doing the right thing. After regarding it for a little while longer, she turned away and left the room to go down and head for breakfast.

 **…**

"Ah, back to main campus again."

"Uh…Tada, you were here pretty recently." Hiro pointed out, giving him an odd look. Tada considered that. The library incident was still one that freaked him out. He'd fully expected that he'd have to suffer consequences for that, even if he hadn't done anything. It was the way of Kunugigaoka, after all. But nothing had happened yet, and he was still waiting. _If it hasn't happened yet, it will soon._

"Yeah, I guess. But it's like every time we go to Kyoto to see Kou-kun and his family. It's familiar, but it's not our place so it's always going to be weird to arrive there." Tada paused in his analogy, studying the rain drops congregating on his umbrella as he did so. "Actually, maybe it isn't like Kyoto. We're always welcome at Kou-kun's place."

Hiro didn't comment on this, and the two of them continued walking. The mood around them was pretty heavy, and not just because of the rain, which they both hated. The mid-terms were also there to deal with. As always with Kunugigaoka, the exams were charged with pressure and tension and all sorts of judgement. So naturally, they were both worried. But Tada had two extra worries- first, was his extra reason for needing to do well. The second was to do with the maths exam. After the debacle of the end-of-year exams, he'd studied maths to near extinction, hoping that if he ended up having a panic attack of sorts again, he'd be able to do the questions on autopilot. But how could he be sure that it would be fine this time? Pop quizzes, class work and revision exercises were not exams, after all.

"Tada."

The twins stopped at the front gate, letting other students swarm around them as they regarded each other silently. Hiro's eyes bored into his, and she inclined her head slightly, as if letting him know that she understood full well what he was thinking.

" _I believe."_ Holding her umbrella using her face and her shoulder, she awkwardly signed, making her movements as pronounced as possible. The rain continued to pour down, muffling the noises of the background and some of it splashed onto Hiro as she held the umbrella at the weird angle. Touched, Tada also adjusted his umbrella so that he could sign.

" _Thanks, Hiro. Good Luck."_

" _Yeah, you too."_

Then, in unison, they readjusted their grips on their umbrellas, and they walked forwards towards the main campus. Towards their exams and whatever they'd bring.

 **…**

Yukiyama could have just breezed through the paper and sat there for the rest of the time allocated for the paper, but in an odd way, he felt as if it would be a lot more defiant to take his time, go through it slowly as if he hadn't been metaphorically eating reams of Literature that could be regurgitated at will and maybe deliberately get a few questions wrong. No more than three though. He didn't have a death wish, after all. _I do want to escape though. Badly. This isn't the path I want to be on._

The injuries from the beatings that had caused the large scar on his back had stopped hurting ages ago, but he always felt a throbbing whenever he thought of them. Or when he thought of beatings in general. Or, again in general, his father. He thought of all three things as he carefully completed another question, and he gritted his teeth against the sensation. He hated this, absolutely hated this. Kunugigaoka was a circus, as far as he was concerned. A pointless, cruel circus. One that he'd been forced into against his consent.

 _And Class 3E of the Junior High division is the main attraction._ It was all he could do to not snap his pen and throw it at the teacher and leave. But that would be unfair, in a way. That teacher sitting and invigilating wasn't one who'd ever taught him, and that teacher wasn't his father. Perhaps he didn't want to be drawn into moral crusades with his classmates, but he could not help but see where they were coming from every time they stood up to embark on another battle. Involvement was the last thing he wanted, but he knew that if he was asked to return to the main campus following these tests, he'd refuse, straight up. He'd much rather stay in 3E for the rest of the year. Then he'd get to leave this stupid circus at the end of the year, and perhaps then he'd have a better chance of ending up where he wanted to be.

Having worked himself up into a muted frenzy thinking of this, he flipped the page and looked at the next question, processing it instantly but still reading it over and over again. Then, he put pen to paper, and almost by instinct, scribbled out the answers at super speed. When his pen pressed so hard into the page he almost ripped it, he stopped and leaned back in his chair slightly. _I actually need to calm down._ It wasn't the topic's fault that he had issues. Japanese Literature had nothing against him. And theoretically, he didn't have anything against it-Japanese was his native language, and a very beautiful one at that, for it was one that had produced names such as _Chihiro_ \- but years of pressure and threats forcing him to be perfect at the school subject made him forget that all too often. _I need to calm down. I need to calm down, right now. Think!_

He tapped his pen against the paper, mimicking the actions of various others around him, helping him to escape any special attention, and he thought carefully, and just like that, the answer came.

" _kaitemo kaitemo  
kirei ni naranai  
eranda enogu ni tsumi wa nai  
kinou no yonaka ni mita nagareboshi  
mada oboeteiru I was waiting for  
_

 _Hello shooting star, hello shooting star again,  
matteita yo…"_

His favourite part of the song the 3E campus 'ghost' had sung that time snuck into his mind. After Hana had sent around the lyrics to the song, he'd gone and looked up the original version, before downloading a copy to his phone so he could listen to it whenever he felt like it- journeying to school, cleaning the shrine, travelling to modelling shoots, doing homework. Anywhere, really. He could recall any part of the song at any one time, and the song would return him to sanity just like that. Exactly like it was doing now.

 _I can totally understand why whoever the so-called 'ghost' was decided to sing this aloud. Most likely they're just a person, a person like me, maybe. Except I bet they never had to deal with a parent like mine, or a stupid circus school like this._

This time, it was a bubbling burst of laughter that he had to tamp down, but he didn't mind too much this time. He felt a lot better now. So he settled himself, and then continued working on the questions.

 **…**

Ueno had been steam-rollering through the papers so far, and the chemistry paper was much the same until he came to the realisation that he'd accidentally skipped a page. _Oh, damn!_

Looking up at the large clock at the front of the classroom, he tried to peel open the paper, but for some reason it just would not open. He stopped, wiped his brow, and silently berated himself. No use in getting all het-up, after all. And after that, he was able to separate the pages, and he flicked back to the page he'd accidentally missed.

It was a word problem, about a particular experiment, and it even involved a diagram of the apparatus of the experiment. _Hey, this type of thing Ruko-kun's forte! This is great!_ But just as soon as that happy thought came to him, a wave of guilt went and washed it away. Covertly, he snuck a look at Ruko. She seemed to be fully absorbed in the paper, and didn't look as if she was having too much trouble. This made him feel better, and he decided to tackle the question himself.

 _Maybe Ruko-kun actually studied this time, which means that maybe she'll get good grades this time around. And maybe the others will too, and then they'll come back, and things can go back how to they were supposed to. And then, all will be fine._

 **…**

The words and numbers on the paper remained still. Although he could still remember the feelings that had overwhelmed him during the end-of-year exams, they didn't rear up and attack him. The memories of the day he was told that his father had died were just that this time- memories. And so, the paper in front of him ended up being only a paper.

And when he came to that realisation, it was all he could do to not smile and laugh and punch the air in celebration. Instead, he just settled for working through the questions with a sense of victory, and occasionally looking around at the ones he cared about. _I think we're going to be fine. I think we're going to make it! Take that, Kunugigaoka._

Buoyed, he continued the questions easily, checking back each one after completion just to be sure, and eventually worked his way to the final page. Ready to answer the question, he began to read it. And his good mood disappeared.

 _What…what is this? This wasn't on the syllabus. The only time I saw this was that time Hana-Chan was looking at that funny maths trivia website…. isn't this a university postgraduate level logic puzzle thing? I'm sure it is. I guess I need to solve it then. Now…how did it go…how did it go?_

Sneaking looks at those of his 3E friends he could see, he could see that most of them were just as puzzled. Even Hana was chewing at the top of her pen, and many of his friends who were good at maths as a subject weren't any better off. Tada supressed a sigh.

"Five. Minutes. Left." the chiming monotone of the invigilating teacher nearly made Tada jump out of his nervous system. He scrambled for his pen, and tried to scribble something, anything. The air was cluttered with the sound of other scribbles, all of them grating on Tada's ears. With that observation, he spared a brief thought for Hiro. If he was finding the scribble sounds grating, they were probably bordering on painful for her. But even so, he scribbled desperately, trying to draw on everything about the maths he'd studied to try and successfully answer the questions.

"Okay. Time up. Put your pens down now if you don't want to be disqualified." The teacher sounded only slightly more human when he said this. Everyone in the room obliged, and then waited quietly for the papers to be all collected and for them to be released back to their lessons. When they were, they all swarmed out, hurriedly.

Despite his misgivings, he soon became happy again when amongst his classmates. Naturally, they were all talking about the tests, the ridiculous maths question in particular, but as typical for him, Tada didn't contribute, instead laughing at some of the more bizarre responses his class came up with.

"Kitakawa-kun and the other 3E representatives." Hasegawa broke into the little group 3E had made while walking down the corridor, and they all screeched to a halt. Otsuka stood next to Hasegawa and smirked as Eriko and Tsukuda arranged themselves so they were standing either side of Tada.

"President Hasegawa." Eriko said calmly. "I trust the exams were alright for you."

"Why, of course. Thank you for asking. " Hasegawa's voice was much too silky and it gave Tada a case of the major creeps. _Bleurgh._

"And, what about you?" Otsuka sneered. "I bet you had some trouble with the papers, huh?"

The haughty bluenette let out some derisive snorts, and they all bristled, Tsukuda in particular. Tada stuck his arm out slightly in case Tsukuda got riled enough to attack either Student Council member. But not a single one of them responded. The other 3E members who had been with them hovered nervously.

"Ah, what, are you not going to tell us about the exams?" Hasegawa sounded mildly disappointed. " I so would have liked to know."

"Or will it be too humiliating for you?" Otsuka cracked, cackling.

 _They're up to something. They're planning something for us, and whatever it is there's no way it'll be good. I need to get us out of this quickly._

"Well, it's kind that you're interested in our academic welfare, President, Deputy President. However, I go by the belief that post-mortems are for corpses, not for exams." Tada countered smartly, feeling accomplished when Otsuka stared at him as if he'd turned into a brightly coloured emoji creature. Hasegawa's perfect expression of mild bafflement was also good to see.

"That, and we're going to be late for our next lesson if we don't rush back now!" Tsukuda was chirpy, having clearly caught onto some aspect of Tada's reasoning, especially as she'd heard this particular line of his before. With that, the three turned their backs on Hasegawa and Otsuka and quickly walked away, soon followed by their classmates. The conversations they were having picked up right from where they left off, and they weren't called back.

But Tada could still feel Hasegawa and Otsuka staring at him, and he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had snuck into him. It was not too different to the feeling he had when he thought about the library incident.

 _They're planning to do something horrible to us._

 **Yeah, I included a little Ueno bit. That was kind of last moment of me in terms of ideas, I must admit. But still, I think it'll be good for you all to get an insight into some of his thinking. It isn't much, mind you. But this chapter was about 'More than Midterms' after all , and it is always to remember that just because the main campus is an enemy in some ways, it doesn't mean they are all so one dimensional in this , you know?**

 **Also, I can't actually remember how the legend relating to Origami cranes goes. I came across it ages ago when I was new to anime and fanfiction and I thought of it again recently when thinking on how to develop the Aoshimas. Again, I own all mistakes in that regard. Now, since I have nothing else in particular to say, I'd better stop procrastinating and get on with my lecture notes...**

 **Please leave feedback!**


	16. One Step Backwards, One Step Forwards

**So...this week I lost my favourite hat and got given my first two coursework assignments. -.-'**

 **But putting that aside- I should probably preface this chapter with a disclaimer that trying to figure out specific dates and stuff for this story is messing with my head, especially with a Japanese school year which contradicts a lot with UK school years which is what I am familiar with(actually, I'd imagine it contrasts with lots of other school years ehehe). I mean, as I mentioned before, I know this story would occur in the 2044/2045 school year as I'm working under the assumption that AssClass took place in 2014/2015. So, where possible I just sort of fudge it by referring to general time periods. But in this chapter I've needed to refer to actual dates for reasons that you'll soon see. So, just as a clarifier...first, I write dates in day/month/year format. And second, it is likely I've made a crap-ton of mistakes, and while I'm probably going to keep them as they are in here and plead AU, if there are mistakes you know of, do let me know so that I can smooth them out in future chapters!**

 **And now I'll shut up and let you enjoy the chapter ^^!**

* * *

When they actually left the main campus building, the rain of earlier had let up, but the sky was still grey and dull, obscured by clouds. On a better day, she would have moaned about it to her friends, but she found that the weather fitted her unhappiness, and so she let it be. But that didn't mean she didn't think about the cause of her unhappiness. The trolls that had suddenly appeared on her blog had become very menacing in the space of a week, and the words were solidly burrowing themselves away in parts of her mind. She couldn't think of anything else, as the nasty comments were taking over.

And this wasn't an exaggeration. Not a single post or photograph had escaped the vitriol from the five different users: TheFirst1, M3, ComputerMaestro, Anonymous6789 and Anonymous23, with email addresses that were nothing more than jumbles of numbers. Even comments that their more supportive commenters had posted had been bombarded by these people, who could fit the description of 'trollers'. _Except they're not like typical trollers._ Because the comments, although clearly hateful and designed for that purpose, were all relatively well thought out, intelligent and articulate. And very, very personal, singling out some of her friends for very, very specific condemnation. With some of the things had been said, she could only be glad that her friends' personal Facebooks, Twitters and other accounts hadn't been trolled. _Yet._

 _ARGH, I need to tell them!_ Truth be told, she'd been looking at the blog every day recently, despite the exams. The comments weren't ones she wanted to see over and over, but she kept telling herself that she needed to keep an eye on the problem. Even if that was just an excuse in a way- she enjoyed controlling the Ending the End Class blog, and she didn't want to be forced off by strangers- she still kept on going back and going back. Hell, she'd even done it that morning, before leaving the house. And not a single one of her friends had said anything about it, which seemed to suggest that they hadn't looked at the blog since the comments had first started appearing.

 _Because of the mid-terms, you complete utter moron! But they're finished now, so I guess I can check what's appeared since the last time I looked and then decide to tell them. Maybe it's just a blip._

When they got into the classroom, Ichijou was unsurprisingly not there, so as they all sat down Ayako whipped out her phone and logged into both the blog and the email account she used to manage it.

 _New Comment On 'Study Tips from So-Called Failures', posted 05/5/44-_

 _Anonymous6789 at 11:15am 18/5/44:_

 _What's the point in posting such advice? It's useless and misleading, just like all of you in you, Little Miss Internet Addict, since you're the one posting this drivel. Oh, I hope you fail! Infact, I know you will!I can't wait._

 _New Comment on Image posted 10/5/44:_

 _TheFirst1 at 11:15am 18/5/44:_

 _I've been looking at this photo too many times and I just cannot stop laughing at how pathetic you all are. Grow up!_

 _New Comment on image posted 13/5/44:_

 _Anonymous23 at 11:16 am 18/5/14:_

 _We know who all of you are. You'll regret that soon enough, Class 3E._

 _New Comment on 'We Are More Than Rumours', posted 30/4/44:_

 _M3 at 11:17 18/5/44:_

 _Unfortunately, the rumours are true. They are facts, just like how the fact you are all losers is a fact. Your idiotic 3E whining can't hide that. The yakuza girl amongst you had better look out (for example, ahaha!)!_

 _New Comment on image posted 23/4/44:_

 _SaYuRi at 11:03 18/5/44:_

 _Argh, Dang it, late reply. Sorry. Obviously I don't know these people or anything like that, but suicide is not something to make light of. Who are you to so lightly dismiss a life like that? I will be reporting your comment, but in the meantime, know that you are less than human for wishing such a thing on a young boy. Of course, another person might decide to interject 'so YOU are the one who should kill yourself' but I happen to be human enough to NOT wish that on anyone._

The unexpected retaliation from supportive regular SaYuRi made Ayako grin,thinking that finally things had turned around. She reread the comment and continued smiling as she went on to the next one, fully expecting the troller to explode into unintelligible drivel and she looked at the reply that had been given to it.

 _New Comment on image posted 23/4/44:_

 _ComputerMaestro at 11:18am, 18/5/44 in reply to SaYuRi: Ah, a bleeding heart softie. How nice of you to try and defend the little boy. Unfortunately, the thing is even if I did keep shut then someone else would tell him the same thing. It's inevitable you see. This boy's father went the same way. AND he's a class representative. Just take a moment to think about what the world is coming to when someone so weak is representing the students of our generation. Then return to me with more liberal rhetoric._

Out of the things that had been said by these five users, these were average in their viciousness. But with the last comment in particular, Ayako's chest folded in on itself and her hands shook. She was so glad that Tada hadn't seen this. It would have hurt him so much. She'd seen it first hand, how he was still grieving. They all had. And then there was Hiro…sure, she was in 3A, but Tada was her brother, and they were such great siblings that seeing them made Ayako resentful of her only child status when usually she didn't really give a fig about that. _I messed up._ She didn't want to see if there was anything else, but she needed to, but even though she needed to, she couldn't continue.

"Takashita-san, what's so interesting?" Reimiya popped up next to Ayako. "You seem really, really absorbed in whatever's on your phone. Kaori-san's been trying to get your attention. "

"I…erm…she did? Oh, right. Ahahaha!" Ayako's voice sounded tinny and forced, even to her own ears. She looked around to try and catch sight of Kaori.

"Ah, Takashita-sa…oh." Eriko stopped dead. "Are you all right? You're really pale."

 _Oh, for god's sake, just tell them!_ But it turned out that she couldn't. The class fell silent and they all focussed on her, which didn't help. She tried and tried but the words wouldn't get themselves out.

"Takashita-san?" Eriko repeated. Reimiya hovered near her, distinctive eyes wide.

"Ayako-Chan? What's wrong?" Tada stepped forward, then hesitated. He studied her, and this made her cringe.

"Ah, for god's sake!" All of a sudden, Ruko was dragging her out of her seat and into the corridors. They carried on without saying a word until they were at the end of the building, near to the door of the kitchen they used for Home Economics. Ayako leaned against the wall, and felt herself slide down it until she hit the floor somewhat painfully. She hugged her knees to herself and then just sighed. _Get a grip, you damn idiot._ Ruko didn't say anything, just deciding to stand next to her. She was silent, apart from the sounds of the wrapper of the chocolate she was munching in delight.

Time went by for a while, and they just remained there, Ruko eating chocolate and Ayako pulling herself together. Somehow, without having the comments in front of her, and being more or less by herself seemed to help. Eventually, she was able to look up at Ruko.

"Hey, thanks for that."

"For what?" Ruko swallowed and gave Ayako an innocent gaze. Ayako rolled her eyes.

"For helping me get a grip, silly!"

"You calmed down all by yourself, didn't you? I've just been eating chocolate." Ruko grinned at her, and then winked as she scrunched up the wrapper. It was such a rapid movement that Ayako may have missed it if she hadn't been staring at Ruko.

"Right….anyway, let's go. I have something you all need to see." Ayako got up, and they walked back to the classroom. When she got in, most of her other friends rushed at her, and she had to hold her hands up in surrender just to get into the classroom.

"Yo, Izzy-san, let me use your laptop, please?"

Izzy just blinked at her slowly, regarding her the way a predatory animal might regard potential prey before deciding whether or not to hunt it down.

"Laptop?"

"Yeah, your laptop. We all know you bring it with you. And my phone is much too small to have all of you crowd around."

"Ah, yes, of course." Izzy showed all his teeth in a funny smile, and obliged willingly enough. "Do you need the internet?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Izzy logged into his laptop, and his fingers flew across the keyboard for a moment, before he opened up an internet page. Once he had, he got up and gestured to Ayako, who sat down. It took her a while, for Izzy's laptop had a different feel to her own one, but it didn't take her long for her to open up two tabs to show both the emails and the blog pages themselves.

In a similar vein, it didn't take that long for her classmates to clock what it was she was showing them. Predictably, Jori, Tsukuda and Reno went ballistic.

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Are you seriously telling me this blog idea backfired?! I knew it was too good to be true. Look at some of these things they're saying!"

"They cannot be real! Why on earth didn't you say anything?! "

This, combined with the other reactions that had erupted around her, Ayako reddened, ashamed. She tried to open her mouth to get a word in edgeways, but turned out she couldn't. _And this is despite me being one of the chattier ones here,_ she thought to herself, allowing a brief, self-depreciating internal laugh.

"Let Takashita-kun speak." Tsuwabuki ordered, cutting through the noise cleanly. "One question at a time, I think. She's clearly overwhelmed. "

"Exactly." Haru agreed eagerly, nodding seriously. "We can't decide what to do if we're all shouting and all."

Ayako nodded at that, and gave everyone (herself included) a chance to calm down completely. Then, she took them through a brief timeline of the comments and when they'd first appeared, as well as how many had appeared so far and the names of users making them.

"So, it seems obvious that they're all main campus students, otherwise they wouldn't know so much about us, specifically. But there isn't anything else that gives away their identity or anything like that. But I've been keeping an eye on them." She concluded.

"Even though the mid-terms were rearing their head?" Azama asked, gaining many evil looks. He raised his hands up in surrender.

"I'm playing Devil's Advocate." He added unhurriedly. Tsukuda narrowed her eyes at him.

"So long as you aren't victim-blaming." She growled. Hana tugged at her sleeve and gave her an aggrieved look. Tsukuda smiled apologetically, which placated Hana. Azama just nodded serenely.

"Devil's Advocate is always a good stance to take. That being said, Takashita's devotion to our class blog wouldn't have made a difference in this case, it seems. These people would have appeared anyway, because they would know that somebody'd check at some point. "

Kuroba pulled up a chair and sat himself next to Ayako as a way of punctuating what he'd just said, so he could also look at the screen. _Did he just sound….approving?! Bloody hell's teeth._

"Izzy, allow me to take a scroll through myself."

"Sure thing."

"Gee, go right ahead, thanks for asking, given that I'm sitting right here." Ayako muttered, even as she shifted over slightly to make Kuroba more able to reach the laptop. As Kuroba busied himself with that, the others talked amongst themselves about the ones responsible for the comments.

"If the trollers really are from the main campus, how were they sending comments at a quarter past eleven today?" Hirigi pointed out. "I mean, that was soon after we finished the last paper and got released."

"They're on the _main campus_!" Jori threw her hands up as if to say 'are you a moron?' Hirigi just glared at her and turned away quite deliberately.

"Now, now…" Fuyumi said ineffectually.

"Should we take this to a teacher?" Haru wondered. "I mean, isn't that what they always say to do when you get cyberbullied? "

"Right, and what teacher is seriously going to listen to us in this hellhole?" Ruko sneered. "Besides, aren't you more worried about yourself? Look at all those threats about you, for example."

"That's a point." Reno said. "I mean, having all those photos of ourselves up there's a bit…irresponsible. I mean, with Ichinose-Chan having family in the yakuza, this could get her in some pretty sticky situations, no? And then there are all those other personal things they've been able to get at, like Miya-Chan." At this, Reno seethed. Reimiya patted at his arm to calm him down, which actually appeared to work.

"Don't worry about me, really." Haru reassured warmly. "I can look after myself, it's not a problem. I'm not unfamiliar to threats."

Haru's voice seemed to infuse itself with some steel with her last sentence, and this made more than a few heads swivel around to gawp at her. But Haru was red-cheeked and staring at the ground, her fringe falling into her eyes. Ayako remembered hearing about the big fight that had gotten both Haru and Tsukuda excluded and sent to 3E. _Perhaps Kuroyama-kun is right._

"We don't care about your background here! Well, we do, I don't want it to sound like that we think you're unimportant or anything. But the point is we won't revile you. Ever." Ayako declared, her words sounding even drippier as she ran through them. They had the desired effect though, as quite a few others chimed in with agreement (she noticed that for some reason Hirigi looked faintly ashamed when he agreed too, and her busy mind filed that away for brooding over in a later, lighter moment). After all this, Haru looked up and smiled.

"Thanks, guys. You really mean that?"

"Of course we do! We're all friends here. Or at least, fellow classmates." Tada's determined tone exuded warmth, but it wavered. Ayako watched him, and noticed his eyes wander towards the laptop screen. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was thinking of.

Unexpectedly, Yukiyama leaned over and said something to Tada in a low voice. Ayako found herself straining to hear, but she couldn't. When Yukiyama straightened and returned to his usual place at the edge of the group, Tada seemed steadier as he picked up the discussion where they had left it before the issue of Haru's welfare had diverted it. Even so, it was impossible to not notice the way Tsukuda kept non-verbally 'checking in' – for there was no other way to describe it- on Tada.

They continued talking for a while, not really coming to any conclusions. Mostly they were just ranting at the unfairness, and comforting each other over the various personal wounds that the comments had inflicted. Some of them also went straight to their own social media accounts to change their privacy settings and check that those hadn't been targeted.

"You haven't deleted any of the comments, have you?" Kitabayashi asked abruptly.

"N-no….." Ayako honestly had no idea what Kitabayashi was getting at.

"Ah, that's a good point!" Tada exclaimed. "You shouldn't delete them."

"Why not? What if the trolls get her? And eat her, like they always do in fairy tales?"

Everyone (including Kuroba) gave Yamada a look of total disbelief. Yamada didn't seem to react, instead just blinking at them, utterly serious. Eventually, Fuyumi sighed.

"Yamada-san, maybe I should explain to you what a 'troll' is in this context."

"Really? Oh, okay then!" Yamada trotted over to Fuyumi happily, and they started having a quiet talk together. Ayako sweat-dropped at that, but she also giggled.

"Okay." She said assertively. "I'll keep them. And then if we do tell someone we can then show them the proof, right?"

"You'll need screenshots." Kuroba interjected, still busy at Izzy's laptop. "Luckily, that's what I've been doing."

"You have?" Tada asked. "That's good of you."

"I've spotted something interesting about the comments. I can't say what it is, though, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure that it is what it is. I'll probably need to check them out later. " Kuroba's typing became more prominent, filing their little classroom with lots of tappy sounds.

"Okay." Tada said. "That sounds good. Do you think this thing will help us figure out who is behind the comments specifically?"

"Yes." Was the short reply. _He's being helpful?! Okay then….won't look this gift horse in the mouth, at least for now._

"I'd probably be able to find out the IP addresses and other useful information about the commenters. That'd build a more complete picture. " Izzy added.

"Yes, you should do that!" Tsukuda agreed, then rapidly did a 180. "NO, wait, that's hacking, isn't it?!"

"So?" Izzy was all innocence. Everybody laughed at this, dispelling the rest of tension around them.

"Print them out, too!" Reimiya and Akira had spoken in unison, and when they realised, they turned to each other and giggled.

"Sometimes evidence is more compelling when you have it in a hard copy." Akira explained for them both, Reimiya nodding all the while. Tada agreed with this, and agreed to do it himself, with Ayako regarded as brave.

For some reason, the class seemed to consider this the end of the impromptu group discussion they'd been having, and began to drift back off to other parts of the classroom. Ayako fidgeted in her seat as she chatted with Eriko, Haru and Kaori, waiting for Izzy and Kuroba to remember that they were at her desk.

"Oi!" she eventually barked out. "Could you two please shove back to your desks?"

"We're busy, shortie." Izzy flicked a cheeky glance at her, and Ayako seethed.

"I am NOT short." She fumed instantly, causing Izzy to snicker loudly. Even Kuroba chuckled momentarily. _Grr._

"Just ignore them, Takashita-san." Kaori advised. Ayako pouted at this, but shrugged and agreed anyway, and they carried on chatting. Eventually, Kuroba and Izzy did finish, and moved back to their own desks, taking out a board game of some kind to play instead. Ruko decided to try and get more photographs for her infinite yaoi stash, and started zipping around the classroom to that end. Kinomoto decided to go quickly check on their flowers, and loudly invited Haru and Tsuwabuki to come along with him. Tsuwabuki declined on the basis of the heavy looking tome he was reading, but Haru readily agreed and proceeded to leave Ayako, Eriko and Kaori to follow him out.

It was at that time that Fuyumi seemed to have a revelation and demanded the attention of all the class.

"Say," she asked them all once she'd got that attention. "Do you think one of us should go and get Ichijou-sensei now?"

 **…**

The entire classroom was quiet, and for good reason. Tada stared down at his test papers and the scores. The numbers whirled around his head: 50, 60, 45, 70, 47 and then 272 and 109, his total mark and the place that total had ended up getting him overall respectively. As far as scores went, his weren't that bad in comparison to some of those his classmates had got, but in the Kunugigaoka climate, they were diabolical. _I knew that maths paper was going to bring everything down._ Except he couldn't put all the blame solely on the shoulders of one question. _In the end, it means that I wasn't good enough. Again. Ah well, at least it wasn't a complete flunk._

As soon as he'd thought that, a recent online comment that he'd seen on the blog got to him. _Your parents are disowning you in the afterlife for being such a failure, you know._ He sincerely didn't believe that was true, but having their deaths exploited was just soul draining. And these results didn't help, as they seemed to be backing up that anonymous person's stance.

"So, everyone…." Ichijou had been patient, not saying anything judgemental as she'd handed out the papers. She knew the scores they'd all gained, clearly, but she didn't seem disappointed or anything.

"I'm guessing that this was a bit of a disappointment for all of you-"

"Gee, d'ya think?" Jori snapped.

" _Jori-san_!" Fuyumi whispered. Ichijou ignored this, as she tended to ignore most of her students outbursts. For the first time, Tada was grateful for this habit of hers. Sometimes, just sitting back was a lot less harmful than saying anything.

"But I know you haven't been in the ideal conditions to be able to do your best. " Ichijou continued. "So, if you look through your papers, you'll notice that I've taken the liberty of writing exactly what it was you did in each question that made you get it wrong, with a few hints on how you might fix that the next time around. "

"Y-you did?" Tsukuda asked. She flicked through her papers rapidly. "Oh, you did! Ace, Ichijou-sensei!"

"That was kind of you. I really appreciate this!" Haru effused. Ichijou smiled at them all.

"And it's kind of you to say that.I used to do this a lot in my previous school, mostly because the class sizes were a lot smaller there, and I had more time on my hands to do that sort of teaching. I figured that even though you're a large class in a large school, you were more in need of such a thing than my old students ever were. I do hope it helps."

 _This…completely undermines any idea that we had about her not caring. Ichijou-sensei's 'niceness' really does count for something. Perhaps this means we can tell her…._ Tada turned to Tsukuda and smiled as he tilted his head to communicate the question he had forming in his mind. Tsukuda understood what he was thinking and gave a one shouldered shrug.

"I think we should wait and see where this goes." She mouthed. Tada stifled a chuckle at this –as it was very level headed of Tsukuda to say such a thing- and nodded in agreement.

"Nice sentiments and all, but I won't really be needing it." Kuroba pushed his chair back and stood up, lowering the mood in the room instantly. Everyone swivelled to gape at him.

"Ah….why ever not, Kuroba-kun?" Ichijou gaped at him, even as she yawned. "Did you get good scores by any chance?"

"As it happens, yes. Although the maths paper was clearly fixed to be of a disadvantage to us, I managed to score 99 on that. The rest of my scores are in the nineties."

"Same here!" Izzy shot up and for some reason then decided to sit on his desk instead. "Except it was Science where I scored 99, and my maths score was a little lower than the nineties. But yeah. "

"Oh, yeah, you were an honour student before coming here, right, Izzy?" Tsukuda asked. Izzy nodded at this.

"Oh my!" Ichijou exclaimed. "So the two of you could move into the main campus if you so wish."

"And that brings up the elephant that's been in the room for a while quite nicely, doesn't it?" Kaori interjected, once again bringing things to a standstill. Not least because Kaori was not known for her spontaneity.

"The…what now?" Hirigi asked. "What's that meant to mean?"

"It's a metaphor. It's quite a basic one, don't you know it?" Kuroba chortled. He sat down at that point, smartly blanking out Hirigi's aggrieved face. _Oh, brilliant. But at least I know what Kuroba-kun is insinuating._

"Erm….." Ichijou suggested. "I'm not sure what is going on, but Arisato-kun, if you could get off your desk and sit on your chair plea-"

All of a sudden, the sounds of a group of elephants trumpeting together filled the room. This continued for a few seconds, before a very brief pause and the sound of a single elephant. This then changed to what sounded like two elephants tooting at each other. _Uh…_

Confused, everyone looked around them, trying to quickly survey their surroundings to see what could be causing the noises. It didn't take very long for all eyes to turn to Ruko, who was sitting at her desk grinning at them all. With her phone in her lap, unlocked and on a YouTube page. Playing a video of elephants in the wild. _Oh for crying out loud…that's actually quite funny!_

"You said there was an elephant in the room." She quipped. Unrepentant, she let the video roll on as she dug in her pocket for a packet of Malteasers, which she then opened and proceeded to pop into her mouth one at a time, still grinning at them.

"Sorachi-san, I don't think that was entirely appropriate…" Ichijou, who'd been standing all this time, clearly was starting to fall asleep, as her head began to nod a lot as she slowly sauntered back to her chair.

"Anyway." Eriko, ever the disciplinarian, got them back on track. "What Kao-Chan was referring to would be the fact that Kuroba-san and Arisato-san won't be going to the main campus. Even though their grades would allow them to anyway. It is something we all agreed on, and they're honouring that. Am I correct?"

"Yup. Too much unfinished business here." Izzy stated for the both of them.

"Exactly. " Kaori nodded vigorously. "And sensei, before you start this lesson, there's something Fuyumi-san and I would like to show the whole class."

"Uh…?" Fuyumi blinked as if returning from a dream, then lit up. "Yeah, we do! But, is it really okay when we should be getting on with lesson now?"

"Ah come on!" Jori was also fired up, evidently knowing what Kaori and Fuyumi were talking about. "We need a diversion, right, sensei?"

"I…I suppose so. What is it you wanted to show us?"

"Come!" Jori and Kaori got up. Jori went over to Fuyumi and rifled in her bag for something, which she kept concealed once she'd found it, and then they walked behind Fuyumi, who wheeled herself out. Collectively curious, everyone got up and drifted out to see the three girls go to the end of the corridor.

"Okay, you guys go to the other end. " Jori commanded them, pointing to the end of the corridor that was furthest away from them. They all obliged and did so.

"What do you think's happening?" Akira asked Tada. He shrugged, and they all settled to watch. Silence fell over them. Jori took out the thing she had been holding, and shook it out so it came out to its full length. Then she did the same to another one, and it turned out that the two things were two crutches.

"Here you go, Fuyumi-san." Fuyumi took them, and grabbed them. She looked up at both Kaori and Jori, who nodded at her.

"We'll be right behind you." Kaori said, as she moved to behind the wheelchair. Jori stood next to it.

"You push that behind us, okay?" Jori ordered Kaori, before turning to Fuyumi. "And you, don't push yourself."

"Yes, yes. I know." Fuyumi sighed world-wearily. A moment past, where she seemed to be contemplating her options. Then, she stood the crutches upright, tightened her grip and slowly, slowly, pushed herself up until she was standing up. Straight. Just like the rest of them.

"WOAH!" Ayako's eyes looked ready to fall out of her head. "I thought you were paralysed?"

"Crass, much?" Tada commented. Ayako pulled a face.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"It's all right." Fuyumi chuckled, slowly sliding one foot forward. "Takashita-san's kind of right. I won't ever be able to do gymnastics again, for one thing…. "

Fuyumi trailed off as she slid her other foot in front of her, then experimented with picking her foot up before placing it in front of her. And by doing this, she inched forward, towards the rest of her classmates, very, very slowly. Her crutches clacked against the wood on the floor as she used them to keep herself upright, and the jerky nature of the footsteps she made also created interesting noises, but only the breaths of everyone in that corridor accompanied these sounds. They were all too busy watching, rapt. _Fuyumi-Chan…._

But it didn't last long. After a few more steps, she started to wobble. Her expression of concentration wavered to become something more akin to defeat, but she still kept plodding and wavering. As she started to get closer, Tsukuda started up a quiet round of applause, calmly clapping her hands together and smiling. When Fuyumi smiled back, Tada decided to take up the applause, followed by Ichijou, then Eriko, then Haru and Kinomoto, before most of the others decided to join in too. Bolstered, Fuyumi's steps became a little more confident for a while longer, but then her hands began to shake violently, and one of her crutches started to slip from her grasp.

"Oh!" Fuyumi exclaimed. Jori was quick to act, catching Fuyumi as the crutch quickly slipped out of her hand. Kaori, whom had paused halfway through, rushed forward, positioned the wheelchair and then helped Jori lower Fuyumi into it. The round of applause stopped, and her crutches clattered to the ground, making more than a few of them jump, and Fuyumi looked down at her lap, her bangs obscuring her face as she did so.

"F-Fuyumi-Chan?" Koujiro asked, pushing forward. "Y-you don't need to be sad."

Fuyumi looked up at that, and regarded them searchingly. Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and she smoothed down her skirt before proceeding to redo her hair.

"I…suppose so. "She conceded cautiously. "But I think that's the most I'll ever be able to do."

"Not true!" Jori opposed vigorously. "Not true at all! And anyway, you did really well, isn't that right, guys? Right?"

Jori's eyes were fierce behind her glasses, daring them to oppose her. Ichijou was the first to respond.

"Why, yes, that's right. It looks like that physiotherapy you've been taking is coming along really nicely, Yukimura-san. And you have such lovely friends to help you, too. You should be congratulating yourself. "

"Hmm…." Fuyumi thought about this, and then brightened. "But still, I want to try and be able to walk a little more. I won't be able to walk around normally, or join you all in P.E lessons properly, but whatever I can do, I'd like to try and do it."

This seemed to be the cue for everyone else to flood around Fuyumi and pepper her with lots of questions and encouragement as they went back into the classroom to finally start their first lesson of the day. Tada contributed more than his fair share, and even managed to make Fuyumi laugh in the process. But his mind was buzzing, all sorts of things turning in his mind, forming a renewed motivation.

 _Okay, so being able to put therapy into practise isn't the same as doing well in exams. But if she was able to do that much now, she'll probably be able to walk further than she thinks she'll be able to later down the line. So perhaps that means that if we just all keep at it,_ _our goals will be realised too. And we'll probably do better when the next exams come around, if we keep all of this in mind._

 _After all,we might be Class 3E, but that doesn't make us failures. Not at all. And Mum and Dad wouldn't be disappointed in me or any of us at all, not if they were looking down on that moment there._

 _So take that, Kunugigaoka. We won't be quashed that easily._

* * *

 **Scoring systems are also something I'm a little fuzzy on. Possibly I should do some research...but...I've been doing research for this story's Kyoto arc, and I have research to do for my two bits of coursework and I need to write down the references correctly to boot. So I'm being a bit lazy when it comes to the other details. Again, feel free to point out anything that's glaringly awful. Ah, and any feedback about how I formatted the online comments would be useful too. I was genuinely stuck on that aspect of the chapter.**

 **But the second half of the chapter- now that's something I'm pretty proud of writing. I actually felt uplifted by writing it. The 'elephant in the room' stunt that Ruko pulled off is actually based off something similar that happened to me with some family friends ages ago. The reason the metaphor got brought up in the first place was completely different but the end result was the same. It was one of those things that I just knew would make perfect story material one day (once I'd stopped dying of laughter). And here it is!**

 **Oh, and did you notice I've started to use the horizontal lines? I _FINALLY_ figured out how to use them last week when I published my crossover one-shot 'Nureta Kutsu wo Nugisuteta'. It's a crossover between Assassination Classroom and Zankyou no Terror, so if you're a fan of ZnT maybe you could check it out (if you have time) and review it? I'll also be publishing a AssClass one-shot later today. It's centred around Rio and the working title for that is :'Her Reasons (Don't) Die In The Dark'.**

 **So yeah, hope you liked this! Please leave feedback, as always.**


	17. Thinking about the School Trip

"Hey, Akira-Chan, do you want to join my group for the trip?"

Akira paused on the path and blinked at Tada silently. Tada waited patiently. A moment passed, and she still didn't respond, evidently clueless.

"Trip?" she asked eventually.

"Yeah, the school trip the third years have every year. To Kyoto." He explained. "Did you forget?" He hadn't been able to stop thinking about the school trip, once the drama surrounding the trolls and the midterms had become more of a simmering issue than an all-consuming one. He couldn't wait to go, even if he had been to Kyoto quite a few times. _I can use Mum's funny guidebook from_ her _trip, even though it is old. I wonder where it is._ A blurry picture of the red book rose up in his mind, and he made a mental note to himself to look for it that evening, assuming that it had actually eventually made its way to Chika's house.

"Seems like it." Akira nodded. They arrived at their school building and paused near the cherry tree. Tada looked up at it for a moment. Now the blossoms had been replaced by budding leaves, he

"So, group?" Tada asked again. Akira scrunched her face up in consideration for a moment, then shook her head vigorously.

"I'm going to ask if I can join up with Micchan." Akira decided resolutely. "You don't mind, do you, Tada-san?"

"Nah." Admittedly, he did feel a little rejected, but it wasn't as if he didn't have any other friends in the class, so it wasn't a big deal. _There's always Hanae-Chan._

"When you've got your whole group, make sure to come to me, Hanae-Chan or Eriko-Chan to let us know about it. "

"Yes, of course." With that, Akira dug into her bag to get her notebook out, and sat herself under the tree to start writing. Tada considered sitting down too, but decided against it, opting to go around to see the flowers.

"Good morning, Tada-kun!" Haru grinned, turning from where she was watering the plants and chatting with both Eriko and Kaori. He smiled back, and greeted the other two girls.

"Doesn't Kinomoto-kun normally join you here?" he asked Haru once the greetings were done with.

"Yeah...But I think he got held up at home. Kitchen crisis, or something." Tada found this funny for some reason, and chuckled. Haru shrugged and continued watering the plants, and Tada decided to sit down and just admire the impressive flowers.

"Tada-san, have you decided on a group for the trip?" Tada looked up at Eriko, who was still standing.

"Erm, not yet." He said. "I'm going to team up with Ha-"suddenly, Tada felt a weight on his head and interrupted his own words to let out a squawk of surprise. Feeling someone else's hair tickling his face, he looked up, and was surprised to see Tsukuda's face grinning down at him, her chin resting in her hands as she leaned her arms against his head. He yelped, and shuffled hurriedly away from her.

"Do you mind not using my head as a head-rest, please?" Tada groaned, rubbing his head, casting her an aggrieved look. Tsukuda laughed heartily and plopped down to sit next to him.

"So," she said, leaning back casually. "You're talking about the Kyoto trip. Fun times. We're going to be in the same group, right, Tada? What about you, Eriko? Shouldn't we all be in the same group?"

"I was thinking that having all the representatives in one group wouldn't matter, because there are three of us anyway." Eriko responded, frowning. _There's a point._

"We were going to be in a group of our own- Eri-Chan, Ichinose-san and I. Possibly Kinomoto-kun and Tsuwabuki-kun too." Kaori put in. Tada nodded at this, but it was Tsukuda who replied.

"Well, that's okay. If Tada and I can't get anyone to join a group of our own, then we can just merge with you guys."

"Hmm." Eriko conceded. "That's fine. It's not as if I'd hate to be grouped with you."

"Well, isn't that good to know?" Tada said drily. He got up, and Tsukuda leapt up too. Then, the two of them ambled towards the classroom. They went through the door at the same time as Hana, who had just arrived, and Tsukuda instantly invited her to be part of their school trip group. She accepted happily enough, and followed them as they entered the classroom, chatting about the possible things that they could do in Kyoto.

"So, that's three of us." Tada steered the topic of conversation back to their trip group as he put his bag down on the desk and sorted through his things. "Who else should we ask?"

"Oh, that's easy." Tsukuda airily said. She strode across the classroom to where Izzy and Kuroba were poring over something on Izzy's laptop. _Nothing new there,_ he deadpanned to himself as he followed Tsukuda.

"What do you want?" Kuroba asked cuttingly as soon as he noticed Tsukuda.

"Kyoto trip. Join our group." Tsukuda ordered. Kuroba raised an eyebrow at this, and rested his chin on his hand as he regarded Tsukuda. _Erm….Hanae-Chan, you said this was meant to be easy…_

"And why would we do that?"

"Because, you can't just be a group by yourselves, and we need more members anyway." Tsukuda protested.

"Who else is in your group then, that you decided to come and ask us?" Izzy asked, fingers still flying across the keyboard, barely missing a beat.

"Myself, Hanae-Chan and Hana-Chan." Tada said, indicating the three of them. Izzy looked up at 'Hana-Chan', and his eyes flickered unreadably. Then he tipped his head to regard them for a moment. Tada fully expected him to say something, but instead he returned to whatever it was he was focusing on- no doubt some sort of hacking. _As long as it doesn't get us into trouble._

"Again, why would I want to do that?" Kuroba inquired. "Do you think I have any interest in getting all buddy-buddy with you?"

"Do you-"

At that moment, Izzy stopped typing to dig in his blazer pocket, and pulled out his personal inhaler. Tsukuda stopped in her tracks and looked over at Izzy, and recognising the situation, waited. Carefully, Izzy puffed on the inhaler few times. Kuroba instantly turned his attention to Izzy, his manner like that of a concerned older brother as he started to barrage the boy with questions. Izzy waved him off silently and after a few more inhalations, put the inhaler away.

"Relax, Sei-Chan. I'm fine." When Kuroba started to protest Izzy narrowed his eyes at him.

"I'm _fine_ , Sei-Chan." Izzy repeated resolutely. And to be fair to him, he didn't seem particularly ill, and Kuroba seemed to see this, as he just let out a grunt and turned back to the ever-persistent Tsukuda.

"What I was trying to say is: do you _have_ any other preferences?" Tsukuda countered.

"Well…" this caught Kuroba slightly unawares, making his sneer slip a bit.

"Hey, Aoshima-Chan isn't that bad." Izzy remarked, raising his voice so he could be heard above the din of the keyboard. Kuroba gawked at him, and then contemplated this. Hana also gave Izzy a surprised look, hunching up under her big blazer as she stared at him. A tense moment followed, and both Tsukuda and Tada waited with bated breath.

"Okay then. I suppose I don't mind. "Kuroba decided eventually. "Izzy, I take it you're alright with this too?"

"Since we have to be grouped up with someone then yeah."

"Yes!" Tsukuda punched the air, then immediately turned and scanned the classroom. "So, we should see if we can find one or two more people…."

Tada sighed, sweat-dropping. "Uh…." Tsukuda turned to him instantly, quizzical.

"What?"

"Are you just going to choose _all_ our group members for us, Protector of the Small?"

"I, what…oh, right." Tsukuda blushed and rubbed her head sheepishly. Hana giggled at this, and Tada couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, okay. Did you have anyone in mind?"

"Hold on." Tada looked around the classroom, which was gradually filling up. He would have instinctively gone for Akira, except that he'd already had that conversation. And he had a feeling most of his classmates were also thinking of their own groups to be in. And then his eyes fell on Yukiyama, sitting in solitude at the back of the classroom, earphones in his ears, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. To a lax observer he would have looked like a typical nonchalant teenager. But Tada could see how his facial expression translated to 'push off', even with the closed eyes.

"Hold on." He said again to Tsukuda and Hana as he approached Yukiyama. Cautiously, he tapped Yukiyama on the shoulder. Yukiyama's eyes opened, and then narrowed at the sight of Tada. He pulled out the earphones and held them in his fingers as he sat up to better glare at Tada.

"What?" he snapped.

"Do you want to join our group?" Tada said. Yukiyama stared at him as if he'd just spoken in another, more obscure language.

"What group? What for?"

"Erm, the trip to Kyoto? Coming up in a week's time?" Tada clarified. He pointed to where Tsukuda and the others were.

"We need groups for that. I've already teamed up with a few people, but that isn't enough."

"Oh, that." Yukiyama yawned, and flicked a fleeting glance at where Tada was pointing. "Okay. Whatever."

"Really?" Tada was a little bit more than gobsmacked. He had not been expecting things to be that easy with Yukiyama. "You're sure?"

"I said yes, didn't I?" Yukiyama snapped. He stuck his earphones back in his ears, then picked up his phone, presumably to rewind the song or something. Tada took this as his cue to leave and re-join Tsukuda and Hana, who had left Izzy and Kuroba and returned to nearer his own desk.

"How did it go?" Hana asked timidly.

Tada grinned and gave them both a thumbs-up. Tsukuda held out her hand so he could high-five her, and he did so.

"That's our group decided!" Tada said as a way of punctuating the gesture. _I can't wait for the Kyoto trip._

 **…**

As Haru and Hirigi cleared up the classroom after school, they talked of light, fluffy, typically adolescent things. The topic they mostly chatted about was Kyoto- Hirigi was excited while Haru was more cautiously happy, but they were both interested in what the trip might bring, and they were in the same group anyway, and so it made a natural chatting topic. But eventually, the chat dried up, and they worked in silence.

After a while, Haru became aware of Hirigi giving her odd, hesitant looks, as if he was trying to do something but couldn't. This instantly got her hackles up, but she stayed calm, even humming as she swept- _The classroom really got messy today, didn't it? Ruko-san had a lot of flaky sweets…and Turkish delight. I love Turkish deli- stay calm, Haru. Stay calm._ She didn't want to be this person, who saw threats everywhere, even in the face of a classmate who was a bit of a spitfire but a good enough person. She didn't want to be that person. And yet she could feel the fire stoking itself in her centre, ready to propel her into action at some unspecified notice.

"I…uh, Ichinose-Chan?" Evidently, Hirigi had managed to work up the courage to say whatever it was that needed saying. Haru stilled her broom, and looked over at Hirigi, who had been tackling the windows.

"What is it, Hirigi-kun?"

"I…." Hirigi shuffled from foot to foot, the wet rag clenched tightly within his fist. "About the…you know…"

Hirigi was having trouble with his words, but Haru had a feeling that she knew what he was referring to, and her stomach sank. She'd never come out and actually said that yes, her family was part of the yakuza. And although she let herself do well in the self-defence P.E. lessons, she hadn't shown her real skill. She definitely hadn't volunteered to teach despite the fact there was so much that those of her classmates who did teach didn't know. But rumours and speculation about her status had pursued her throughout middle school, clinging to her no matter how she'd shaken it off. Eventually, she hadn't been able to hold it in, and she regretted that to this day. _I conformed to everybody's expectations._ Naturally, that had turned her into something to be hated, and reviled.

But not completely. Like pretty much the rest of the school population, her classmates in this class-which seemed to be a watering hole for the marginalised- had taken the rumours as fact. Yet the responses they formed to that fact were so different. Completely and utterly different, like nothing she'd ever seen before. _For the first time, I have friends who actually care for me. I want to repay them._ Which was why that, short of teaching self-defence, she was doing everything to help Tada with his wonderful idea. Why she had allowed herself to be displayed across Ayako's blog even after the first wave of cyberbullying it received, and definitely why she had gone against instinct and has asked two of her more discreet 'uncles' to keep a covertly protective eye on her and her 3E classmates whenever they happened to cross paths. Sure, she had gone back to basics and carried a concealed can of pepper spray with her wherever she went…but still. _For the first time, I'm happy._

So she fixed her attention on Hirigi, gave her warmest smile, and used her most comforting voice to encourage him to say what he wanted to say. Which, after a little more stuttering, he did.

"Well, I guess firstly thanks for letting me be part of the group. I-I didn't think that'd happen."

"Oh, that's no biggie. We get on well, don't we?" Haru replied. "And besides, it's really Kaori-san you should thank, because it was mostly her idea. But you're welcome."

Hirigi nodded and grinned, before reddening. Haru gave him a curious look. Hirigi was a decent boy. He was a bit abrasive, clashing with other loud or similarly spiky class members such as Kuroba, Jori, Kitabayashi or Tsukuda. Poor Tsuwabuki was almost always pulling Hirigi away from a spat. But he was also fairly friendly, and she, Kaori and Eriko had lots of fun conversations with him, he somehow tolerated Ruko's antics, and he sometimes played card games with Reimiya and Reno. But he didn't have a particular friendship group or person he was close to, and so Haru didn't know him that well. _So my instincts aren't feeling well-honed right now, trying to figure this out._

"I…that incident, last year. When you got excluded and sent here and that." Hirigii's words came out in a sudden rush as he looked up suddenly. "We weren't in the same class or anything like that but I'd heard all the rumours and things, and I knew what they'd said about that teacher who fell off the roof- which I thought was stupid because well, you know, yakuza guys aren't meant to parade themselves around, right? Not that I have a clue about all that, but still. Anyway, that day, that big fight you had, when Tsukuda-Chan and Tada-kun's sister tried to help you and couldn't. That big fight, I also had a little fight. It was about lunch money, stupid idiot who's Dad owns all this money and who is now in the main campus anyway wanted me to buy him lunch, as if I was stupid enough to not know how rich he is. Anyway I told him to push off, and we had a bit of a fight but it didn't take long to finish, but I was still pissed off and decided to go to class early, but I got delayed because of the crowds. And I was really curious so I pushed forward to see it…and then I saw you, in trouble, all red and flushed and unruffled- the opposite to how you look now. And I'm not stupid or anything, I could see you were unhappy and that you'd had enough and that's why you were being like that and that all you needed was help at that moment. But I was still pissed off and feeling…what's the word? Patronised? Yeah, that. I felt like that. So even though you weren't in the wrong I didn't step forward or say anything or do anything. And since it was just another fight to me then, I didn't think about it much, until we became classmates and you were all friendly to everyone.

Then I realised how unfair those events were. How unfair your treatment in general was and what not. And that it wasn't good of me to not at least try to do _something_ , and now I feel like utter shit, especially now you've accepted me to be part of your group with no strings attached. That's just…good, too good. And I wasn't, so I…I'm really sorry!"

Utterly out of breath, even as Hirigi bowed contritely, he panted loudly, and when he straightened, he wiped sweat off his face. Haru just stood there, gobsmacked. She didn't remember Hirigi's face in the sea of spectators from that day, but that didn't mean much given how most of them had blurred in her memory. _People still have the capacity to surprise me, it seems._

"Hirigi-kun…" now it was Haru's turn to search for words. "That…that was a long time ago. Bygones are bygones and all that. I accept that apology though."

"You don't have to pretend or anything." A defiant, angry glint appeared in Hirigi's eyes as he looked at her. "I know you're too polite to say it, but if you want to hate me I don't give a damn. "

"Nobody's ever apologised to me for this before, Hirigi-kun." Haru explained. Well, Tsukuda, Tada and Hiro had, but that was a completely different type of apology- none of them had never perpetrated anything, after all. She'd never expected an apology from someone who had been watching, who presumably had been behind the previous torment she'd endured, or anything along those lines. _This….is new. And it makes me feel validated, somehow._

"So no, I don't hate you. And it's all fine, really. Let's just try and be friends from now on, okay?" Haru held out a hand for Hirigi to shake, and after gazing at her hand in trepidation for a moment he accepted it with a reasonably strong grip.

"If…if you want to, we can move to a first-names addressing basis? Only if you want?"

"That's alright with me. You're Kazuma-kun, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Well, I'm Haruka, but most people call me Haru, so you can use that nickname if you like?"

"Okay. No, wait. I think 'Haruka' suits you better! You won't get mad if I call you Haruka-Chan instead?"

"Haha, that's perfectly fine, Kazuma-kun. Call me whatever you like."

"Okay then, Haruka-Chan!"

With that, the easy rhythm they'd had before Hirigi's impromptu confession returned, and they efficiently finished their cleaning duties before going to Ichijou and telling her they were finished. As it turned out, Hirigi's house was near the same crossroads Haru passed every day, except that he actually went down one of the paths of the crossroad whereas Haru literally only passed it. So, after stopping for frozen yoghurt at the ice-cream parlour, they walked up to that crossroad while chatting and laughing with each other, looking like nothing more than two carefree middle schoolers.

 **…**

For some reason, the door was already unlocked when Hiro got home. _How odd,_ she thought as she slipped off her shoes and shut the door behind her. She headed for the stairs as she had nothing to put in the kitchen, having eaten in the school canteen with Asami and her four closest friends from the Dance Club, but she paused when she saw the boxes. They were all cardboard, piled up neatly against the walls so as to not trip anyone else up. And there were lots of them.

 _I didn't notice these at all!_ Hiro approached one slightly opened box tentatively, and put her hand into it. Feeling something soft, she pulled it out. It turned out to be a folded jumper, so she shook it out and then held it out with both hands. It was a round-necked jumper, candyfloss pink and impossibly soft, and it instantly brought back a whole lot of memories. _Mama._ Hiro buried her face in the softness of the candyfloss jumper, trying to see if there was still some remains of her mother's perfume in the item of clothing. Then she put it down, and went through all the contents of the box –all different jumpers- in a similar manner. This was why she didn't sense Tada coming until he tapped her on the shoulder and made her jump.

Glowering at her brother, she bent down to pick up the indigo cashmere jumper she'd been holding and slung it over one arm.

" _What was that for?"_

Tada grinned and gestured to the floor, where a new box was by his feet.

" _Aunt Chika was driving past me as I was walking with Fuyumi-Chan and Jori-Chan, and pestered me into helping her get stuff from our old house. Mum and Dad's stuff, basically."_

" _Doesn't she have work?"_

" _She's taking a late, long lunchbreak. "_ Tada pointed at the front door, and Hiro's eyes followed his finger to see Chika come through the door carrying a pile of boxes. He hurried forward and reached for a box, but Chika shook her head. Hiro couldn't see what Tada's response to this was, as his back was turned to her, but after a moment he did go through the front door and over to where Chika's car presumably was. Then, Chika put down the boxes she had been carrying and strode across to Hiro.

"If you want to take some things up to your room, you can. But most of these boxes are going in the basement. " Chika said, clearly trying hard to make the shape of her words as clear as possible. Hiro paused and took a moment to figure out some of the more ambiguous words, and then nodded. Chika smiled.

"Okay then. Now, once Tada's got all the boxes in, I'll have to rush back. _The two of you will be okay with whatever's in the fridge for dinner, right?"_ Chika signed the last sentence as she spoke it, her gestures choppy but still clear to Hiro. _Ehehe, Aunt Chika's improving._

" _Yeah, we will."_ At that moment, Tada came in with another pile of boxes, causing Chika to whip around. The box at the top of the pile started to wobble precariously, despite Tada's steady grip, so Hiro quickly stepped forward to grab it with both hands. But it continued to wiggle and shake. And for some reason, the box had a lot of holes in the top. _How utterly bizarre._ Hiro put the box down and opened it.

Instantly, a furry face appeared, and Hiro was taken back to a happier time.

 _As Tada reached up to ring the doorbell,Hiro fiddled with her hearing aids. They were new and meant to be better than her previous ones, but they kept crackling with interference and weren't doing much good at all. Still, she could hear the faint noise of the doorbell ringing in the house, as well as the noises of the street (albeit more muffled than she knew they should be)._

 _The door opened, and Karasuma looked down at them._

" _Hello, Karasuma-sensei." Tada and Hiro chorused, almost in unison but not quite. Karasuma nodded and smiled slightly._

" _Hello Tada, Hiro. Here, I'll take those. " Karasuma hefted up their overnight bags and carried them in, and the twins stepped inside, Tada carefully pulling the door shut behind them. Hiro put down her school satchel, then concentrated on unlacing her shoes when something warm and fluffy rubbed against her leg. Confused, she turned, only to be staring into the face of a tiny, furry tabby kitten. The cat mewled, the noise discernible enough to make Hiro laugh in joy._

" _A cat? Where'd the cat come from?" Tada came around and started to stroke the kitten, who purred happily and weaved between the two of them. Hiro giggled- the kitten was the cutest thing she'd ever seen, ever._

" _Ah, I thought Kaede was still asleep. I was going to wait until later to introduce her to you, as a surprise. Guess she had different ideas."_

 _Hiro picked up the kitten-Kaede- and the twins turned to face Karasuma._

" _She was already a surprise, Karasuma-sensei!" Hiro exclaimed joyfully. "I didn't expect that you'd get a kitty! And a really cute one too.I can't wait to show Mama and Papa this kitty!"_

 _Karasuma rubbed his neck, seeming momentarily uncomfortable. The twins regarded him curiously and then he cleared his throat awkwardly._

" _Well, Kaede actually belongs to an old friend, but they can't look after her now, so I offered to take her in."_

" _An old friend?" Tada echoed, alarmed. "Does that mean you can't keep her?" He stepped closer to Hiro, as if shielding the kitten in her arms from an invisible threat. Hiro herself held Kaede closer, making her meow in protest and start wriggling. Karasuma sighed and held his hands out in surrender._

" _No, no. The kitten is here to stay." Hiro registered a hint of sadness in these words, but she didn't hold onto that observation for long. Because she was sure it was just her imagination- what could possibly be sad about a cat?_

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot about you, Kaede!" Hiro scooped up the cat and let it nestle in her arms. "I'm so, so sorry."

Many years on from that day, and Kaede was no longer a kitten and was therefore slightly heavier. But she was still the same amiable, fluffy ball of tabby cuteness as usual. So she didn't seem to bear any grudge, and instead rubbed her head against Hiro's chest, purring happily. The vibrations of Kaede's purrs felt warm against her, and Hiro felt happier because of it. _The cutest kitty ever._

Tada carried in a few more boxes, then turned to grab the ones left on the doorstep. Once he had done so, he closed the door. Hiro noticed that Chika had already left, and so she gave Tada a curious look.

" _Aunt Chika's gone back to work now. Those boxes over there, the ones that Chika didn't want me carrying, are all cat things. Apparently she managed to get into Karasuma's house while we were at school. His neighbour was looking after Kaede."_

Hiro nodded to show understanding, as Kaede was occupying her hands. Tada pointed to his ears.

" _I suppose you can take Kaede's cat bed and things upstairs. I'm guessing she'll be kipping in your room?"_

Hiro put Kaede down, and the tabby instantly pounced on the box she had been transported in, pawing at it and pushing it around curiously. Hiro chuckled at this, then straightened up.

" _Yeah. I'm going to take some of Mama's jumpers too."_ She indicated the box she'd been looking through before Tada had arrived.

" _Okay. I'll head straight to the basement then. Put in your hearing aids before you join me,okay?"_

Hiro nodded, then went to pack the jumpers back into the box so she could take it up. She carried it over to the foot of the stairs, and then located the box that had Kaede's cat bed and various toys in, and stacked it on top. Then, she picked up the boxes and prepared to head upstairs when something occurred to her.

"Wait, Tada! You're seriously going to knock around in the basement in your school uniform?"

Tada stopped from where he was piling up boxes and gave her a look, scrunching his face up. Eventually, he shrugged, and removed his blazer and tie, throwing them towards her. The garments landed somewhat sloppily on her two boxes, and Hiro jiggled her arms a bit so they wasn't hanging so precariously. _Typical Tada._ She rolled her eyes at him, and set off towards her bedroom. It wasn't long before the sensation of having her ankles head-butted by a ball of fluff informed her that Kaede had followed.

She dumped the boxes at the foot of her bed, then grabbed Tada's blazer and tie and went to hang them on the doorknob of his bedroom before returning. The first thing she did once she'd returned was to locate her hearing aids from where she'd left them-her bedside table- and put them in and switch them on. Once she did, the first thing she heard was a persistent, cheerful meowing. Hiro whirled around to see that Kaede had jumped on her bed and curled up on her pillow, decreeing it suitably cosy.

"Kaede, that's my pillow. That's where I sleep!" Hiro scolded. Kaede lifted her head and gave her a suitably snooty look before returning to the comfort.

"You have a bed, you know." Hiro held up the round red-and-green cat bed as proof. Naturally, the cat didn't care, so Hiro just ignored her and found a suitable corner to put the bed in. She then surrounded it with a few of the cat toys, and stashed the rest at the top of her wardrobe, where Kaede couldn't get them. Unless something had dramatically changed in the last few months, Kaede wasn't inclined to jump everywhere, so her wardrobe was perfectly fine. Again, she tried to tempt Kaede to the cat bed, but to no avail. _Silly kitty._

Then, it was time to deal with the jumpers. Hiro lifted them out one at a time and carefully put them on a pile atop her quilt. Kaede got up and journeyed across the bed to regard the jumpers, but evidently decided they weren't conducive to her feline purposes as all she did was go 'Meeeee' and return to the pillow once again. Then, Hiro crossed over to her wardrobe and flung it open, regarding the contents. _I could take the sowing machine out and put it on my desk permanently….no, then I wouldn't have space for the paper rack. And I'm hardly going to put all my clothes on the desk….no, wait._

Hiro took down all her materials- folded sheets and rolls of different types of fabrics in all sorts of colours, scrap cloths, packets of pins, sequins, needles, glues and all sorts of fabric related things. She deposited these on a pile on the floor. She then went to retrieve the now empty cardboard boxes, and packed all these things into the boxes. Only the fabric rolls didn't fit, so she put those back where they had been, and then she closed the boxes, stacked them one on top of the other, and then slid them underneath her desk. If one of the boxes had been slightly taller, then they wouldn't have fitted, but as it was the boxes just about went under neatly, and when Hiro tested it, she still had suitable leg space to make sure that sitting there wouldn't become a pain. Satisfied, she then retrieved the jumpers and put them on the shelf where most of her materials had been.

"Nyaa!" Kaede slid casually off the bed and approached Hiro. "Meooow!"

"I know. Perfect, right?" Hiro bent down and stroked Kaede for a moment, before straightening up to get changed. She chose an old pair of leggings and a patchwork t-shirt she'd made from Chiyo's old handkerchiefs one time. Chiyo'd been apoplectic one she'd realised what they'd been used for, despite the fact that she had been about to throw them away anyway, but she hadn't been able to do anything about it. _Because Papa stuck up for me that time._ Hiro gritted her teeth and shook the thought away. Then, she grabbed one of her mother's jumpers- a red one- and unfolded it before pulling it on and shutting the wardrobe doors.

"Look, Kaede!" Hiro pointed to the image picked out on the front of the jumper with sequins. "It's a kitty, like you!"

Kaede gave her a look, then mewled and stuck her nose in the air, turning around and heading back to the bed. And Hiro's pillow, which she curled back up upon, closing her eyes.

"Fine then. Be like that." Hiro teased. "Just don't mess anything up, okay?"

With that, she left the room and padded downstairs. Most of the boxes had been cleared away- _speedy Tada-_ so she got those that were remaining and carried them precariously over to the basement.

"Oh, I'll help with that!" Tada rushed up the steps that led to the basement just as Hiro reached them, and grabbed the top two before heading back down. Hiro followed him in.

"Kaede's taken up residence on my pillows. I might have to sleep in the cat bed tonight instead." Hiro informed Tada as they went down the steps, causing him to tip his head back and roar in laughter. When they got to the bottom, Hiro surveyed the area.

Unlike a stereotypical basement, this one wasn't scary at all. It was wide, and fairly clean (although Hiro could see a fair bit of dust in obscure corners), and the lighting that Chika must have put in at some point worked well enough. As she could only see a few things that could possibly be Chika's- old musical instruments, amplifiers, a few other large electrical devices, a dismantled bed- Hiro came to the realisation that Chika must have cleaned up the basement and put most of her things in the spare rooms, so that Tada and Hiro would be able to keep their parents' possessions. That thought touched her, and she just gazed at all the different boxes for a moment, unsure of what to think.

When she snapped out of it, she saw Tada methodically searching through the boxes, occasionally picking out things and throwing them into a large carrier bag, but mostly just rejecting the boxes and resealing them, piling them up neatly so as to utilise the maximum space.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked once she was closer to Tada. She squatted down next to him. "Looking for things to keep, like how I kept Mama's jumpers?"

"Mhm." Tada nodded absently, more or less fully absorbed in his search. Hiro noticed that on the carrier bag Tada had stuck a large label and had written 'Keep-Tada'

"But also the guidebook." He added.

"The guidebook?" Hiro echoed, racking her memory to try and understand what he meant.

"The guidebook. The one that Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei made when Mum went on the same Kyoto trip that we're going on in a week's time. "

"Oh, right!" Hiro mentally face-palmed. She'd thought of it that very lunchtime, when Etsuko had mentioned how awesome it would be if the upperclassmen made a special Kunugigaoka guidebook advising students on the best places to go to make the most of the trip. Technically speaking, the school manual/rulebook had some information about the Kyoto trip, but only the barest of facts. Also, _Kunudon_. Naturally, she hadn't said anything about the guidebook, but she definitely knew she'd like to use it.

"I haven't found it yet. I've found a whole lot of photo albums though, including Mum's one. Here, you have it. I'm already hogging most of the other photos." He dug in his 'Keep- Tada' bag and found the heavy, elaborately decorated photo album and passed it to Hiro.

"I labelled a bag for you, too." Tada informed her. "If there's anything you want to keep too, then go for it."

Sure enough, a bag was lying on the floor, adorned with a sticky label reading 'Keep-Hiro'.

"Cool, thanks. Should I help you look for the guidebook?"

"Yes please."

The next few hours were mostly happy ones. Tada and Chika hadn't emptied every room in the house- there were still plenty of things in their old bedrooms for example- but there were a whole lot of tangible memories to go through. Clothes, books, jewellery, hair accessories, stationery, old greeting cards, random trinkets and much more besides. Because their mother had been a fan of photo albums, there were loads of those for all different occasions, each photograph with a cute little caption written underneath, or where the photograph had no album, on the back. Naturally, there were a whole lot of papers and forms and other things that related to the adult world, but Tada and Hiro didn't pay too much attention to those. Chika'd deal with those, and then inform them if they needed to see any of it.

"Hey, look at this!" Tada had a folder open out on his lap, flicking through it.

"Why're you looking at the paper work?" lazy, Hiro crawled over, and instantly caught sight of random words: Human Rights, Campaign, Equality, Asahina Academy. _Papa's anti-bullying campaign. The one he tried to get up and running the moment he started middle school. The one that caught the interest of his student council president and succeeded. The one that some anti-bullying websites still refer to today, even if the name Mamoru Kitakawa has been reassigned to obscurity._

"Papa's anti-bullying campaign." She stated flatly. Tada nodded excitedly and turned to her, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"We could use these things! My class, we could adapt these materials for the current day and age, and we could use these! If Dad managed to add this to the existing hierarchy of his middle school, then we can surely take down Kunugigaoka, right?"

"Yeah…" Hiro leaned back and looked up at the basement roof. "Hey…on this Kyoto trip, will you be focusing on that?"

"Huh?"

"Ending the End Class. Will you be working on that while in Kyoto? I mean, since we've told Kou and he even follows the blog, it isn't logistically impossible. I could help."

"Nah, you don't need to help now. We've got it handled. "Tada said this breezily, and for some reason that made her feel irritated. _Really?_ She turned and gave him a look, which he didn't notice as he flicked through their father's folder. Eventually, he snapped it shut and placed it in his bag. Hiro sat up, and crawled over to another box. Her bag was becoming fairly full with clothes, jewellery, trinkets as well as their mother's 3E album.

"I think it would be better to keep the trip as a trip, and not add some other agenda to it. You know?" Tada continued on. "I mean, we've been meticulously keeping up the blog, screenshotting the evidence of the trolls, looking for information we can use against the Principal if need be, getting our grades up, treating the main campus as nicely as possible, learning to protect ourselves, logging evidence of any other discrimination where possible…lots of things, you know. It'll be nice to just have this trip for the sake of the trip. "

 _Thank goodness._ Hiro was starting to wonder if Tada was becoming zealous about the whole Ending the End Class thing. Surely he was breaking at the seams already? They weren't even that far into the term, and so much had happened. And Hiro knew Tada's enchantment with words too well…there was no way that the recent events hadn't started to eat away. And yet she hadn't seen him take a step back, not even a little bit. He hadn't allowed himself any breathing space, he'd just ploughed on, along with his classmates. She wasn't expecting him to give up, far from it, but she just couldn't understand this…whatever it was called. No matter how much she wanted the End Class to end, she just couldn't understand it.

 _Huh? Hold on?_ Halting her thoughts _,_ Hiro pulled out a chunky red covered book from the box she'd been dealing with. The tome was heavy and hard-covered, and resembled a dictionary. But the gold lettering told a different story: _Class 3E Kyoto Trip Guide._

She carefully opened the book at a random page, only to be confronted with a large map of Kyoto, with certain places marked. _Sensei's Mach-20 map of Kyoto._ Hiro chuckled, wondering for the millionth time where Karasuma had got this sense of humour from. She knew he was creative- the childhood bedtime stories Tada clung so strongly to were proof of this- but this somehow seemed different.

"What's so funny, Hiro?" Tada inquired curiously.

"I found it." She stated. "The Kyoto guidebook."

But she didn't hand it over. Instead, she continued to flick through it, stopping to properly look at the souvenir section. Tada got up and ambled over to her and sat down next to her.

"It's pretty interesting, right?" he said. "I mean, all these different bits of advice, it isn't like some generic itinerary or travel guide, you know? Karasuma-sensei really thought of everything with this. Mum must have found it so helpful in a pinch."

"Yeah, I know, I-no, no, that was Karma-san and Manami-san, when high-schoolers abducted the other girls in their trip group….what were their names?"

"I don't know." Tada confessed. "I can't remember. Then again, Mum wasn't in that group, was she? So that would only have been a second-hand story….but maybe Kou-kun knows. Kaito-kun might know too, but I doubt Miori-Chan or Kazuo-kun know since they're still young. I hope he manages to find a way to visit us while we're there. I can show him this book too. "

"Yeah…I'd like to bump into Kou and the sibs too. That would make the trip awesome. But can't I have the book?" Hiro blurted out. Tada gave her an odd look.

"You want the guidebook? Will you even need it?"

"I'm sorry, what?" But Hiro wasn't stupid, she knew what he was getting at. _You overzealous moron, Tada. It's a guidebook._

"I mean, it's likely that our class are the ones who'll get into trouble while there, you know. So something like this, which others wouldn't even imagine, could really help us stay one step ahead for the first time ever. Especially all those things advising us about dangerous situations."

 _I know that's true…but ….._

Hiro bit her lower lip and tried to tamp down on her resentment. It was a useless resentment. And it would mean that the main campus would win, if she let it define her. She just couldn't let that happen. _No, it's much better to direct this anger at Papa. This situation is Papa's fault. And he's not here to get hurt by that, either._

"We could still get into trouble too! Like with other schools! My group, we're all girls. We're no shrinking violets, but even so…"

Tada sucked in a breath and looked contrite, making Hiro feel even worse. She was implying that Tada was being selfish. When nothing could be further from the truth. If he was selfish, he wouldn't be so overly dedicated to this project, to his class and the role he had in there. _If he was selfish, he would not be Tada._

"I didn't think…..I guess we could both have one. I'm sure Yuuma-san and Hiroto-san have their own copies. I can ask to borrow theirs, and then you can have Mum's. That would work, wouldn't it?"

The pleading in Tada's tone brought Hiro back down. She was being silly. Completely, and utterly silly. She picked up the tatty teddy bear that was in her lap, and manoeuvred its soft arms. All she'd done so far was openly show kindness to 3E, and make it clear that she didn't approve of the system, while conforming to school rules in such a way that it would go towards insulating her when she expressed her against-the-flow opinions. And so far, she'd been fine. _Only because I'm an asset to the school image, but that really is not the point. The school image is flawed and fake and broken. Ending the End Class, and Mama's class, are real._ So not having the guidebook wouldn't kill her.

"I…It doesn't matter, Tada. You can have it."

"Really? Are you sure? You sounded like you really wanted it."

"I'm sure, Tada. But…" Hiro had thought of a way that would make it the perfect compromise. "But, maybe you could photocopy some of the pages for me, later?"

"Of course! We'll do that later, when we're finished here." Tada let out a deep sigh of relief, and Hiro handed him the guidebook. Tada nodded respectfully at her, and put the guidebook in his carrier bag. When he had, she impulsively leaned over and squished him in a hug, which he accepted and returned silently. _We're fine, the two of us. We're fine._ When they let go, Tada's hair and expression were rumpled, but he still gave her a familiar lopsided grin.

"Thanks, Hiro." He said, gratefully. She just nodded at him, and turned to a box. He joined her at the same box.

"So, looks like we've gone through most of the boxes, right?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, just this one and a few others, I think." Hiro replied. Tada beamed at her sunnily.

"Cool. Let's go through them as a team now. And while we're at it, tell me who's in your group. You'll never guess who's in mine…"

 **Yup, the Kitakawa twins are starting to express a difference in opinions about 3E as well as their general Kunugigaoka situations. They're not going to have huge fights and become all out enemies or anything like that, but that difference in opinion will rear its head later on in the story and there will be friction. Much like how a lot of other things I alluded to will be explored more later. And oh golly there are a lot. I have no idea how I will manage to pull together all the threads properly by the end of it all, but I will do so! That being said, it'll be interesting to know what you make of all the breadcrumb-like hints I've been dropping so far. I won't necessarily tell you if you're on the right track (dependent on what you say), but still, it would help, haha.**

 **The Haru/Hirigi scene in the middle of this chapter (what I am going to now refer to as the Redemption Scene) was one I planned for a long time, since around the chapter where I detailed how Haru and Tsukuda got excluded. It just seemed like something that made sense- 3E has changed everyone in it, all in different ways. It's a bit unreasonable to assume everyone in that class was so utterly well informed and openly hating about it before they were part of it themselves. But for ages and ages I had trouble figuring out who the other person in the Redemption Scene should be, and where to place it. The general idea was that it would give Haru some more confidence through the rest of the year, as well as having her establish a lasting friendship with someone. So I didn't want it to be too late in the story, nor did I want it to be too early to make sense. So in the end I decided on Hirigi and the lead-up to the Kyoto arc of this story. And thus, the Redemption Scene as it is in this chapter is the end result. What do you think of it?**

 **I kind of want to say more (feeling chatty again) but I can't think of anything...oh well, I'll save it for another chapter lol.** **So, anyway, as usual, hope you liked the chapter and please leave feedback!**

 **((P.S any of you watching the anime series Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider? Are you suitably creeped out yet? I think I am...but it's so damn compelling))**


	18. The Night Before We Go

**This chapter takes place the day before the Kyoto trip will actually occur, and in some ways I guess you could just think of it as a character-development filler, but not all of it is like that. So I guess it's a halfway point?**

 **Anyway...Chapter 162 of the manga just made the idea of 3E having their own special album a canon thing! That makes me so unbelievably happy, as in some ways it helps to support my own ideas for this story (both in the chapters already done and chapters I have yet to write). Some aspects of that chapter are different to what I had thought of, so I have a feeling I will be tweaking my ideas as I go along (which I've sort of been doing anyway), but yeah, that just makes me happy. And that was an awesome manga chapter in its own right. But speaking of things like that...maybe I should change the 'Potential AU' part of this story's summary into 'Partial AU'...what do you think of that? Would that be more accurate?**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you enjoy the chapter !**

* * *

Hasegawa and Maeda walked down the corridor after lunch, heading to their lesson and discussing a very important topic. Namely, Class 3E and their disturbing online confidence.

"Say, President, I don't think this is working." Maeda said. "I mean, sure all those random commenters are reacting viciously on behalf of 3E, but the actual class haven't reacted at all. Apart from when they banned Miki, that is. "

"They banned you, too." Hasegawa reminded his subordinate smoothly, masking his own anxiety about it. Both Otsuka and Maeda were reliable and had taken to the task of attempting to internally bring down 3E eagerly. But unfortunately, they were hot-headed, and they hadn't been at all subtle in their insults and threats. No doubt that was something that had contributed to the hard-headedness of 3E. Hasegawa wasn't about to berate them for it though. No, there were a whole lot of other factors at play here. The blog was only the beginning, he was sure of it. And he voiced this opinion.

"The beginning of what?" Maeda asked. Then he blinked once and rapidly answered his own question. "The delusion that they can 'End the End Class'. Silly little things. It's not like they can do any real damage, right?"

Hasegawa chuckled at this. At least Maeda had his faculties about him, even if he was a hot-head who'd managed to get his specially created email address blocked on the Ending the End Class blog.

"No, I don't think so. " Hasegawa started to say, and then stopped. He wasn't sure he agreed with that, not entirely. _They've been undermining the school right from the beginning, when the three representatives stepped in the classroom. And Tadaomi Kitakawa keeps defying me. He acts as if the Hasegawa name is of no consequence to him._

"At least, not overall. " Hasegawa corrected himself swiftly, wrenching his mind from that annoying boy who didn't know his place. "It's not impossible for them to reach other people and try and manipulate them to their way of thinking, and that blog is clearly trying. And I'm sure you've noticed their little acts of defiance everywhere."

"But those things are nothing!" Maeda exclaimed. "They're just being like toddlers, and anyone worth their salt wouldn't give toddlers any consideration or assume they know what they're on about. Plus. Fujimura said that the site is only getting a few 100 hits anyway. "

Sensing the hesitation in Maeda's voice, Hasegawa pounced upon it.

"But…?"

"I think Otonashi was right." Maeda declared. "You should tell the Principal, before we leave for Kyoto tomorrow. At least email him! If we keep quiet then 3E will think that we don't give a damn. "

"Or they'd assume we didn't yet notice." Hasegawa prided himself on his open mind, and so he fully understood why Maeda would think that the teachers needed to be told. After all, if Tadaomi Kitakawa, Hanae Tsukuda and Eriko Fujisaki wouldn't listen to the Student Council, then clearly someone with more impact needed to strike them down.

"There's that…"

"Maeda-kun, the thing is, even if 3E are creating a stir, they're still 3E and in the end they always will be. In the grand scheme of things, they won't damage things. So I think we can continue as we have been. They'll see the errors of their ways eventually. After all, everybody knows that 3E are commitment phobic flakes."

"Excuse me, President, but is there something going on with Class 3E that I should know of?"

"Ahh, Aoshima-san." Hasegawa glided in smoothly before Maeda could bluster. "Are you heading back to class too?"

The shorter girl regarded him levelly, her eyes flashing and glinting, barely restraining herself as she replied with gritty politeness. _Asami Aoshima, sister of Hana, who landed herself in 3E. Oh, how genetics can be weird. Of course, the Hasegawa bloodline is flawless. Ichiro-Nii-Sama in the high school, then me in the third year and Nana in the second year. Misao will join us next year, and Yui two years later. Manabu's still rather young though, but the Hasegawa promise is there anyway._

"Yes, I am. But more to the point, did something happen with Class 3E? I overheard Otsuka-Chan and Otonashi-kun talking about putting 3E in their place."

"Oh, but don't you agree that they should be?" Maeda taunted, resulting in a scorching glare from Asami.

"Yes, but if they're doing something dangerous, then I need to know. Hana's getting out of there. "

"Oh, is she now?"

"I'm tutoring her so yes!" Asami snapped, causing Hasegawa to chuckle. Somehow, he doubted that anyone in 3E could be 'saved' but he _did_ value family loyalty. He knew that he'd be pulling strings when it came to his family name. Not that they'd ever fall as far as 3E, but still.

"It is a minor problem, and one that's been brought to the attention of Otsuka-san and I as deputy and president of the student council. No doubt it's something that shames your sister a lot, or you'd probably already know." _Lies, but you're a deserving main campus girl. No need to vilify you for something that you couldn't have controlled._ "Anyway, since Maeda-kun is one of my associates, we're just debating how to fix the problem. And it will be fixed. So don't you worry your pretty little head, Aoshima-san. Just concentrate on representing Kunugigaoka in an excellent light, especially while we are in Kyoto."

"Pretty little head? How misogynistic." Asami retorted, making Hasegawa chuckle. He'd overheard Asami's acidic tongue being used in jest with some of the girls she seemed to be friendly with, and as that particular type of acid indicated intelligence, he just smiled and waved her off, waiting until she was properly out of earshot before continuing to talk with Maeda.

"Well, that's one thing we need to change. I don't think insulting Hana Aoshima's blood or even Tadaomi Kitakawa's blood will be conducive. Because if we do end up taking things to Principal Okikura, the first thing that'll be pointed out is the presences of the sisters. Both of whom, I might remind you, are in our class."

"Pfft." They stopped in the corridor and stood next to a window so they weren't in the way of others returning to their lessons.

"Okay, fine!" Maeda eventually burst out. "Let's keep on going as normal until we get back from Kyoto. After that, if they show no signs of slinking away, we should do things differently. "

Hasegawa smirked, and considered this. _Negotiation is key._

"Okay. Seems reasonable to me. Besides, I've been thinking of other things to change. I'll be emailing you all tonight, so be on the lookout for that, between your packing. Now, shall we head to class?"

With that, they spoke no more of 3E or the mini rebellion that would soon be quashed. After all, it wasn't that big a deal. Not in the grand scheme of things.

 **…**

"Ameagari no sora no you na  
kokoro ga hareru you na  
Kimi no egao wo oboeteiru  
omoidashite egao ni naru  
Kitto futari wa ano hi no mama  
mujaki na kodomo no mama  
Meguru kisetsu wo kakenukete iku  
sorezore no ashita wo mite…"

Kei could distantly hear the sounds of Hana's singing, even through the throbbing of the music he was listening to online, and so he took off his headphones and put them on his desk as he leaned back in his chair and strained to hear the sound. After all, the hearing her singing was much better than listening to the noises of earlier, when Hana and Asami had been arguing- or rather, Asami was demanding answers that Hana just would not give, before storming away and reminding her to get on with the packing. Hence why he'd opened a new tab on the internet, found a music video on YouTube, and racked up the volume, drowning out any angry exchanges about 3E and packing.

 _Packing._ That was right. The next day, the twins would be heading off to their school trip in Kyoto. Three days and two nights away from home. No big deal, in the grand scheme of things. They were in their third year, both able to cope with being away from home. But they were in _Kunugigaoka_. That made all the difference. Kei sighed, and ignored the flashing of the chatroom message box.

Mid-lyric, Hana paused, and then after a moment picked up the tune of another song. It was a sad one, much like the last one had been. But it was sad in a different way, expressing something about shooting stars, about laughing and crying, and about a dreamy girl who had always been waiting right here, just like on that day. Kei could have sworn he'd heard the song before, somewhere, but he could not think where. And then, as he strained to hear through the walls, it hit him. He had not actually _heard_ the song before, but it had echoes of his own 3E days. 3E days that were now Hana's, too. _I have failed. Many times over._

He swivelled around in his chair and regarded his bed, instantly seeing his old suitcase flung out on the bed as he considered things to take and things to leave behind. In that image, Hana and Asami were there too, eager to help, even if they mostly just squabbled with each other or giggled at everything else. They had been in sixth grade then, and yet Asami had seemed so much older, while Hana seemed younger. But they'd still been able to get along, at least. At least they'd been sisters to each other, and he'd been able to be a brother to them. At least. _Those weren't better times, but at least there was still something there._ He blinked, and the image disappeared. Once again, he was alone.

He'd expected that when it came to Hana and Asami's own third years of middle school that he'd have to divide his time between the two of them when it came to helping to pack the night before. Otherwise Asami would have cried neglect while berating him for some imagined transgression, and Hana would have given him sad puppy eyes all night before sneaking in to give him some tiny trinket she'd spent ages putting together. But that had been before, when he'd still had faith in the ability of things to change for the better. Instead, he was here in the prison of his own making, and both girls were packing by themselves, isolated.. And he just sat there and lamented that, while knowing full well that he could easily fix that by walking out of his room and talking to them, and yet knowing there was no way to make that even slightly possible.

 _It's rather fitting, isn't it, that my room is the one between their rooms? Because I let 3E win, and now I'm the one who has gotten between them. They should be supporting each other, but instead Hana is repeating my history, and Asami reviles me. As she should. Asami's doing great, she doesn't need a_ hikkikomori _dragging her down. Sure, that 'great' is one that conforms to the system, but she's out there, in the world, making Mum and her father proud, making her own future. She's doing fine. Ah, I wonder who's in her group for the trip. Are they friends of hers, or just people she gets on with? Will she be able to have fun with them? What about Hana's group? Perhaps I was fine without having close friends at Kunugigaoka, but would she be? Maybe I can't look at her but does that mean I cannot worry for her? Even if I don't know her anymore, does that mean I can't care about her?_

Overwhelmed, his brain doing froggy-leaps here and there, he pushed back and got up from his chair, scrambling over to the window desperately, trying to outrun the mess in his mind. It was only when he managed to press his forehead against the cool glass of the window that he felt himself begin to shut down and settle into the easy numbness he'd been wrapping around himself for the past year. Numbness, because that was the easy way out and he was the master of the easy way out. He'd perfected it, even as he felt his grip on sanity dribble away across and beyond his time at Kunugigaoka. It was a hell of a lot easier to hide away and pretend he didn't exist to the world, than it was to deal with both his failures and that of the world in general. Because oh, what a cruel world it was!

Kei took exaggerated breaths in, and out, feeling his heartbeat slow down to a crawl. _I seriously need to get a grip._ His pyjamas, normally saggy, clung to him, and he realised he was all sweaty. No doubt if Asami could see him, she'd be metaphorically dragging him to the bathroom. The thought of the more assertive of his little sisters managed to make him grin dully as he stared at the outside world, at the leaves and the buildings and the clouds and the distant smudges of people. And he gazed at all of this with an emotion stained the colour of longing. That world, the outside world, had been one he was part of. Now, no more. He could no longer say how long it had been since the day his mind had snapped into pieces for the final time, shutting his door behind him, and he certainly could not count the number of times he'd drifted to that door, wondering if he could lift his hand to the handle and then failing horribly. _No, the outside world, and all the dreams I had while there, are no longer mine._

He tugged at his sweaty pyjamas. He would just sneak out and head to the shower now, but it was still relatively early. Bumping into his mum wouldn't be so bad, and truth be told, Asami's sternness would clear through his foggy head for a moment, even if she was bloody irritating with it. But Hana, sweet, fragile, melodic Hana who was inevitably trapped in his history, was just as likely to bump into him. _And then what would I do? What would I say? I don't want to become that quivering mess of years gone by. I don't._

He straightened up and ambled heavily back to his seat, and plopped down in it. He picked up his headphones, and as he did, he realised Hana had stopped singing, and he felt as if something had left, irreversibly so. Like death. A thought which would have made him even shakier, had he quickly not rammed the headphones upon his head and found a new YouTube playlist to listen to. When the music flooded his skull, his shoulders relaxed, and he clicked back to the chatroom and located the chat he'd spontaneously abandoned. The user he was chatting with- ^^Airi-Chan^^ -had left a whole flood of increasingly emoji-ed and indignant messages asking where IStillHaveDreams had gone. _Where, indeed?_

But of course, Kei didn't say that. Instead, he just slipped back into easy pretences, and started to tap out a cheerful reply.

 **…**

Yukiyama took his time in the 24-hour supermarket, acting as if he couldn't instantly spot where the items his father's shopping list demanded were. Again, it was a simple act of defiance. One would probably point out that this particular rebellion would be of detriment to him, since it was late and he had a busy day ahead of him the next day. But Yukiyama just did not care.

He located some instant noodles and chucked them in his shopping basket. There were some sweets he'd seen that he thought would be good to take on the train journey, but if they appeared on the receipt for the supermarket there'd be hell to pay. So he'd just buy them at the convenience store a few doors down, using some of his salary. His salary, something his father could do nothing about, even after beating the crap out of him. Nothing. It was enough to make Yukiyama internally grin in utter glee. Externally, he was neutral. Didn't want people giving him freaked out looks, after all.

When he'd loaded up on the goods that his father had demanded he trek out to buy, he queued up at the only till that was open at that time of night, standing behind a bunch of high school girls and a person who could only be described as an extraordinarily clean and sober homeless guy, who carried a few cheap snacks and a loaf of bread in his arms, keeping his head down so the hood of his fleece further obscured his face, as though he was ashamed, or hiding, or both. Yukiyama silently waited, going through the 'Hello Shooting Star' lyrics in his head, as had become his habit. Eventually, the high school girls filtered away, leaving trails of chatter behind them, and only the homeless guy was between Yukiyama and the till. Naturally, that particular transaction didn't take long, and the guy soon had his goods in a white plastic bag. Silent throughout, the guy gave a nod to the lady at the till, and then glanced at Yukiyama. His hood slipped, giving Yukiyama a glimpse of bright hair and eyes that were intense in an inexplicable way. But before Yukiyama could grab a hold of that impression properly, the guy had left the store. Soon, it seemed like the guy had never been there. _How very weird. Still, I'm no stranger to odd nocturnal encounters. It's no real issue, really._

He completed his own transaction just as silently as the homeless guy had, and left the store with three full-to-bursting bags. As he walked towards the convenience store, he watched all the cars drift by, some containing only a driver, the others full of passengers, and others yet again with tinted windows that refused to reveal who they carried. And as he watched the cars whiz by, he half expected to see Hiro's face again, that expression so full and yet so empty on her face.

To this day,Yukiyama had no idea how she'd caught his eye on that particular night. After all, it wasn't as if she was the only person looking through a passenger window. Maybe it was the colour of her eyes, perhaps it was the contradiction that played out on her face. But that night, as he was laden with late night shopping and heading home, she had caught his eye. And held on to it, as it seemed that he couldn't look away. It would have been more than a little strange had she not been similarly afflicted, turning her head back to try and keep him in her sight when the car she was sitting in sped up a little, and Yukiyama found himself increasing his pace. And that odd little game of theirs had continued, without either of them saying a word (at least, he knew full well that he'd been silent, and he hadn't seen her mouth move at all, as she'd been looking at him the whole time) until the car Hiro'd been in had turned a corner and disappeared from his site. It had been an oddly compelling fifteen minutes or so, but he'd boxed the experience, put it aside in his mind, and had left it at that.

Or at least, he had, until the next week came around and she'd walked into his classroom, wearing the summer version of the school sweater even though they were currently using the winter uniform, and introducing herself as a transfer student. But even then Yukiyama would have just shrugged it off, had she not scanned the classroom and recognised him. Then, he realised that night was more than just an odd experience.

But…what was it? _I still don't understand. Even after all this time, I don't understand._ Even the fact that he looked at the typical night-time scenery under the lens of this long ago encounter didn't help him understand. But even so, he found himself slowing his steps, and scrutinising every window that flashed by. The shopping bags weighted down his hands as a reminder of home, but he paid no heed to it.

Because he was searching the night, hoping to get a glimpse of the answer he needed.

 **…**

Although it was dark, years of the life he'd led had allowed him to see perfectly well. So, even if the flowers were not so bright in the night, he could appreciate them. Besides, the moon tonight was radiant, which gave his eyes something to work with. That, and the night was the only time he could appreciate the work those children- _Makoto Kinomoto, Haruka Ichinose, Daichi Tsuwabuki, I'm beginning to remember their names now. I'm remembering their names now-_ had put in without fear of being caught. He'd bought some food earlier, almost bumping into Saito Yukiyama- _I wonder why he was up so late-_ and then he was about to return to the refuge of the forest when something had drawn him to the flowers.

And now, he was taking them in. At least smells weren't restricted to the daylight. And neither were textures. So he enjoyed those to the full, and for a moment he pretended he was younger, unencumbered. _Deserving of this world._ But that was never something that could last long, especially not with the forget-me-nots so close.

Sadly, he fingered them , thinking of her. Perhaps he could visit her. It'd been a while since the last time, hadn't it? He could bring her flowers, like these pretty forget-me-nots. And those other flowers. What were they called again? _No, don't lie to yourself. You know what they are._ Yes, he could do that. They still allowed flowers in prison, didn't they? They had done so the last time, and even if it'd been a while he doubted things would have changed in that time. Still, whatever the rules were, he'd find a way to get the flowers to her. It was worth it for her joy alone, though he kept telling himself he didn't deserve it.

Admiring the flowers in the dark, it struck him that he could borrow the flowers from here. After all, these were all flowers based on meanings, selected with devotion. It saved him from having to venture to a flowershop, especially since they weren't the type of place to be open in the late of night. The only trouble with that was the next day, the children would come in. He knew that Kinomoto and the others came in early just to check on the flowers, and they'd be sure to notice that some of the plants were missi- _wait. Kyoto trip. They'll be gone for a while. How I could have forgotten that, I don't know._ But, always quick minded and adaptable, that revelation gave him his answer.

He'd take these flowers, these specially selected flowers. And in return, he'd go and buy some more after visiting her, and replace the ones he'd taken, all before the children came back. Flowers even more beautiful. As Tsuwabuki had remarked once while explaining the flowers to the others, he could dip into the flower language of the Victorians if need be. He had the means, after all. And he felt that risking himself to the daylight was more justifiable if he did so with that kind of purpose in mind.

Re-emboldened, he straightened up and turned around to get a better view of the sky. He looked up at the radiant moon, and for a moment thought about where he'd been when it had changed, and everything that had followed after, leading right up to his return here. Not to mention the children.. Although typically he now only smiled in those rare times he ventured out towards company, he allowed himself a smile now.

Then, he returned his attention to the flowers, and began to sort out the ones that he could take to her.

* * *

 **I decided to have Hana singing part of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso's second ED in the Kei POV section as a sort of nod to some of kawaiichoconeko's past reviews that made analogies between various events in these chapters and that anime. Naturally I adore everyone's reviews but this opportunity was too good to pass up. Ehehe =^.^= That being said, I probably will shamelessly plug a whole bunch of my favourite songs into this story at some point or another. Hope you all don't mind.**

 **And I have no idea if they would allow flowers in prison but for the purposes of this story I am assuming that yes, they do. I will be stubborn about that, haha!**

 **Anyway, please leave feedback, as always!**


	19. Kyoto Trip, part 1

**It's actually a miracle that I managed to complete this. First, I was dealing with my coursework with the aim of hitting the word counts on both before going back to tweak them before my deadlines (both in mid-December) and I spent most of that staring at my laptop screen all like 'What are words?'...yet I managed to get the word counts. Somehow. No doubt I wrote complete utter crapola, but still. And then , I procrastinated in a big way by scouring the Dangan Ronpa category for this site looking for SYOCs to submit to...and succeeded, and so I spent more time SYOC-ing than writing. But yeah, somehow I finished this. Some of it felt a little off to me, no matter how I tweaked it, but I hope you all like it anyway!**

 **Oh, and many thanks to Let'sWriteDis, who was kind enough to actually fill out a version of the SYOC form for me for Jori's main-campus friend, who gets her first appearance/cameo in this chapter!**

 **So now, on with the chapter! As always, please do leave feedback!**

"You're here early." Kinomoto called out when he noticed Tada waving to him. He sped up to a jog and went over to say hi, the other members of his trip group following behind him.

"You're pretty early, yourself." Tada commented, before going on to greet Kaori, Haru, Hirigi, Eriko and Tsuwabuki. Then, he dug in one of the bags he was carrying and pulled out six small packages.

"Here you go, some treats for the journey." He explained as he handed them out. He'd spent most of last evening making enough sweets for the entirety of his class, as well as enough for Hiro to take and share with her group of seven. Because of the sheer quantity he'd made a real mess of the kitchen, but as always, the baking was fun. He was sure it would always be fun.

"Sweets?" Eriko studied the contents of her colourful package carefully, forehead wrinkling.

"Oooh, this is like what you made when we came around last year, isn't it?" Haru smiled. "Do you remember, Kinomoto-kun?"

"I believe so." Kinomoto agreed. "But more to the point, these look like…mini cake-pops?" he held up one of the lollipop-like cakes. _Yay, someone knows what those are!_

"That's right!" Tada said. "I tried some actual lollipops too, if you've noticed."

Hirigi made an appreciative noise as he unwrapped one of these lollipops and put it in his mouth. Eriko also picked out one of hers and started to try it.

"So, you make sweets?" Kaori inquired. Tada nodded and began to explain, but was interrupted by Hiro, who was standing a little further away, just spending a little time with Yukiyama while looking out for her 3A friends.

"Our aunt had to forcibly drag him out of the kitchen, or we wouldn't have had dinner last night." She informed them, deadpan, as she looked over her shoulder. Ruko cackled at this before continuing to munch her sweets- different ones- as she'd put away the ones Tada had given her for later. The others around chuckled. Tada grinned sheepishly and said nothing.

"So, who else needs to get here?" Tsuwabuki asked, surveying the train station, and the Kunugigaoka students who were rapidly filing in, all of them third years setting off on their Kyoto trip.

"Ichijou-sensei." Ayako stated bluntly. Nobody rose to this, instead choosing to check which of their fellow classmates were not in the station with them.

"Well, we're all waiting on Azama-kun." Reimiya said, looking to Reno and Akira for confirmation.

"Our group is all here." Eriko stated. "And Tada-san, you're waiting on Hanae-san, Aoshima-san, Kuroba-san and Arisato-san, right?"

"Yup." Tada nodded.

"We're still looking for Koujiro-san, Kitabayashi-san and Yamada-san." Fuyumi spoke up. " Koujiro-san's picking up Kitabayashi-san, and they should be here soon. Yamada-san….I don't know if she'll get here soon, but she'll end up arriving with Ichijou-sensei. Don't you think, Jori-san?"

"Pfft, how should I know? I'm not some fortune-teller like you!"

Fuyumi just grinned slyly at this. "Koujiro-san texted us, remember? He said he'd be arriving with Kitabayashi-san. "

"That seriously doesn't explain why you're so confident that Yamada-san will end up with sensei! It's not even like they live in the same part of town."

"Oh, I know what I know." Fuyumi slyly said, clearly enjoying herself immensely.

Tada could not help but chuckle at this, while Jori glared and rolled her eyes, all ready to protest until someone called her name in a large stage whisper. Jori turned to greet a girl who was half running, half creeping towards them, her movements athletic even as they were furtive.

"Eka!" Jori exclaimed sarcastically. "You realise this is a train station? A public place?"

Eka stopped in her tracks and blushed, the redness contrasting against her tan. She ran a hand through her hair, slightly dislodging the bun she'd tied it in. Jori rolled her eyes.

"I'm trying to say that you don't need to sneak around here. It isn't like it's anyone's business who you're talking to!"

"Well…I just wanted to come over and say hi to you and Fuyumi-san before we got on the train and all…"

The girl trailed off and glanced at Tada, askance, who was watching the scene with one eye while keeping an eye out for his group members (and Ichijou-sensei). He smiled and waved at her.

"Are you Jori-Chan's friend?" he asked, warmly.

"Y-yeah. Eka Udemae. We were team-mates, Jo-san, Fuyumi-san and I. Still are, actually, outside of school and all that. Jo-san is, I mean. Unfortunately she can't compete nationally in case she gets into trouble from the school, but we still have a lot of fun, right?"

"Yup."

"That's always good to know." Tada commented, seeing how Eka's face lit up as she continued to babble to him about gymnastics with Jori. And he also noticed that the more she talked, the more relaxed she was- pulling silly faces, making jokes, and reminiscing with Jori, while telling her about things that they hadn't shared. _A friendship._ And one that hadn't been affected by Kunugigaoka. It was fairly obvious that this wasn't anything to do with their Ending the End Class project, that the seeds of this had been sown a long time ago. But all the same, seeing Eka made Tada feel good, like he was doing something right.

With that happy thought in mind, he interrupted the anecdote that Eka was relating to Jori and Fuyumi, as well as Koujiro and Kitabayashi (who'd arrived without Tada noticing), and introduced the other class members to her. She took to the introductions happily enough, and stayed for a few more minutes. When Hiro spotted a few of her own group members, Eka decided to leave too and look for her own classmates. And so, after both main-campus girls said goodbyes, they headed off to join their groups.

"Off they go to luxury." Ruko remarked.

"While we're stuck in the economy class." Jori griped. A few of the others started to commiserate, although Tada didn't. Although he hated the reason why his class was stuck in the economy class of train carriages, he didn't actually mind those carriages as a thing themselves. It was just the _reason_ that grated.

"Oh, stop whining." Otsuka's familiarly contemptuous voice cut through the babble, stopping it dead. The bluenette looked down at them, despite being the same height as most of them. Tada stepped forward instinctively, ready to speak for his class. Eriko broke away from Kaori and Tsuwabuki, also ready.

"If you'd bothered to read the school rules, then you'd know that most of the budget is allocated to the main campus students of the middle school, as well as the students of the high school division. It's the natural reward for actually being _worth_ something. So naturally, you 3E members don't deserve that. "

"Hell, you don't even deserve _that_." A main campus student that Tada had never encountered stopped next to Otsuka to sneer at them. "Be glad you at least have a train carriage to travel to Kyoto in."

 _As much as that's just a whole bag of crap, that boy has a point. At least they're not making us WALK to Kyoto. That would be too much, especially for Fuyumi-Chan and those like Hana-Chan and Reimiya-Chan, being generally tiny and all….and what about Izzy-kun? It's not like he's severely afflicted, and knowing him he'd probably be fine if he free-ran the whole way, but asthma is still asthma._

"Yo!" Tsukuda arrived at Tada's side, jolting him out of what could have been a contrived train of thought. Izzy and Kuroba were trailing behind her, looking bored and annoyed in equal measures.

"O-oi! There isn't any need for that!" Tsuwabuki's pleading voice spoke up at the same time. But clearly, the two main-campussers were done, as the boy walked away and Otsuka made to follow, only pausing to deliver a vicious glance to Eriko. Then, she was gone too. _What does Otsuka-Chan have against Eriko-Chan, I wonder?_

"Hey, Hanae-Chan!" Tada chose to let that question go for now, and looked through the bag for her sweets. When he found them, he handed them over to her, with the same explanation that he'd given everyone else.

"Finally, I get to taste your cooking! Baking, I mean!" Tsukuda exclaimed. "Took you long enough!"

"Ehehe." If he had been the blushing type, he would have probably gone a little pink at Tsukuda's reaction.

"So, what was all that about, with Otsuka?"

"Oh, you know, just reminding us of our place." Tada chirped with obviously fake cheer. Tsukuda narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything. For a tiny moment there was a little bit of silence between them, and Tada could hear the various conversations the others were having around them. He half listened, taking comfort from the familiarity of his classmates' voices, but not wanting to eavesdrop either.

"Good morning. Are you all right?"

Hana seemed to materialise in front of them, Asami hovering a few meters away, watching them all uncertainly, her eyes roving to Tada more often than not. As usual, he couldn't read what her expression wanted to tell him.

"Yeah, I am." Tada answered for both himself and Tsukuda. "You?"

"Oh, I'm allright." Hana breezed, despite her expression being as lost as it usually was.

"And how are you, Asami-Chan?" Tada called over. Asami bristled, but she didn't ignore or dismiss him outright. Instead, she stepped a little closer.

"I'm fine, thank you. Did Chihiro-Chan come with you?" Asami inquired. Yukiyama whipped around at the mention of Hiro's name, but he soon turned around again. Asami didn't seem to notice this.

"Yeah, she was with us, but then she went off with…" Tada mentally reached out for the names of the two girls Hiro had walked off with, but only found first names, so that was what he went with. "Etsuko-Chan and Nao-Chan? I think."

Asami nodded at this seriously.

"Okay then." She looked like she wanted to leave, but she didn't. Instead, a bizarre moment where all they did was stare at each other passed before she seemed to internally decide something and strode over, grabbing Tada's sleeve and dragging him away from his classmates. Tada was surprised at her strength, given her stature.

When they were out of earshot of everyone else, Asami let go of the sleeve, which had actually unrolled slightly from her grip, and crossed her arms.

"If you get into trouble- if _Hana_ gets into trouble- while we're on this trip, then it's on you. It's on _all_ of you in that group. I can't keep her out of trouble all the time, and this is _my_ trip as much as hers. But she's still my sister. So if anything happens, anything at all, it is on _you all_. Understand that?"

Despite being out of earshot, Asami's voice came out in angry, frantic, spiking whispers. Her eyes blazed with resentment and suspicion, narrowed as she regarded him. It made Tada want to cry, but he kept himself calm.

"You don't need to worry, Asami-Chan. We'll all look after each other. None of us will get into trouble. You have my word."

"And how much does your word count for, I wonder?" Asami speculated bitterly. But her voice had flattened out a little, and her eyes were softer. After considering him for a moment that seemed to stretch out and smother them, she held out her hand. Tada reached and grasped it, and they shook hands once, firmly.

"Very well then. I'll be holding you to that. Make sure Tsukuda-san and the others know too, okay, Kitakawa-kun?"

With that, Asami let go and walked away neatly but not before Tada was able to see the flash of anguish steal its way across her face. He bit down on his usual call-me-Tada reflex and jogged back to Tsukuda, Hana and the others. Hana just titled her head at him curiously, and Tsukuda was the one to jump in with the questions.

"What on earth was that about? Did you have a run-in with Asami or something?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Tada thought about explaining exactly what it was that Asami had said, but who was he to dissect their sibling dynamics?

"I don't believe you, Tada!" Tsukuda declared. "I mean, to me, that just looked way too unwarranted…she just dragged you over there, for god's sake."

"It was no big deal. She was letting off steam." Tada tried again. _This isn't working,_ he internally sighed.

"Do I need to march over there and get it out of her myself?" Tsukuda fumed.

Then, Hana, who had just been watching the proceedings with her usual wide-eyed look, stepped forward and tugged on Tsukuda's sleeve. The taller girl looked down.

"It's fine, really." Hana's sweet voice seemed to cut through Tsukuda's frustration. She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. Then, she sighed again.

"I guess if you say it's fine, then it's fine. But…if anything happens at all, tell me, won't you?"

"Sure." Hana placated. Tada let out a puff of breath in relief. Then he remembered his bag, still containing packets that needed to be given out.

"Now!" he declared, "On to more important things! Sweets!"

"Sweets?" Hana was curious.

"Yup!" Tada started handing them out to those class members he hadn't given them to yet, starting with Hana. And just like that, the tension of the previous few moments were gone, and there was just laughter and silly questions to deal with.

"Ah, so many of you managed to get here early. And you're all so lively too! Good morning!"

Ichijou seemed to appear from nowhere, despite the fact she was just shuffling, and she rubbed her eyes as she approached them. _Why the hell was the 'good morning' at the_ end _of that?!_ Her bags looked old but practical and for someone of her age and level of absent-mindedness, she really didn't seem to have trouble carrying that…or the bright pink suitcase with a large moon sticker on it.

 _Erm…I'm sorry, what?_ Tada just blinked, confused, and then the answer was revealed in the form of Yamada, stumbling along, as confused and blank-faced as always, eyes unblinking behind her glasses, which seemed even larger than usual. Instantly, Tada whirled around to look at Fuyumi, who sat serenely in her wheelchair. Jori, Ruko and Ayako were similarly nonplussed. But Fuyumi seemed impervious and just shrugged.

"What?"

 **…**

 _This,_ Tsukuda thought, _is the life. This is THE LIFE._

She was sitting in the window seat of a row of three seats in the carriage, which directly faced another row of three seats. Hana sat in the seat exactly opposite her, with Izzy next to her, and then Kuroba next to Izzy in the aisle seat. As usual, Izzy and Kuroba had blocked out everyone else to talk about things beyond her comprehension. Hana watched them, as beseeching as usual, and if it wasn't for the fact that every so often Izzy would turn to the smaller girl and ask her for her opinion, Tsukuda would have been steamrollering into their little bubble for all it was worth. Yukiyama sat opposite Kuroba, simply listening to music as usual. Tada sat in the middle seat , next to her, busily drawing something in his sketchbook, while she nibbled on some of the sweets he had given her. Mixed in with the other familiar sounds around her- such as Eriko meticulously discussing trip plans with her group, Ruko petitioning to visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum and Hirigi's laughter- there was nothing about this point in time she wasn't enjoying.

She even enjoyed hearing Fuyumi warble tunelessly, while Jori and some of the other louder members of the class try and tamp her down. Although Fuyumi's voice was….well, not very pleasant to listen to. Not to mention loud, as indicated by Yukiyama's sudden tsk of irritation as he fiddled with the volume controls on his phone. As Tsukuda nibbled on the cake-on-a-stick thingy (which she thought Tada might have called a 'cake pop'), she tried to discern what Fuyumi was singing, but all she could only catch a few words in English : _Watch me -,_ _Disappear with no-….._

"Say, Hana, do you know what Yukimura's singing?" Hana turned to Tsukuda and wrinkled her forehead as she listened.

"Uh…I think she's singing 'Undone'…but if she is, she's in the wrong key." Hana said eventually, confused. Tsukuda sighed, absently tapping out a little rhythm on the chunky guidebook on her lap. _That doesn't surprise me._ Shaking her head and finishing her sweet, she turned her attention to Tada, and looked at his drawings.

"Why is her face blank?"

Tada's pencil paused as he looked at her, and then back at the drawings, and then back at her.

"I don't know." He admitted candidly. Tsukuda studied the drawings, which all really seemed to be experiments in character design. The character in question was a girl wearing a long-sleeved, short-skirted dress and knee-high boots. She seemed tall, fluid and lithe, and her hair seemed to either be short, or just pinned carefully to her head- indeed, Tada had done a few hairstyle doodles in the bottom corner and he seemed to favour a plaited crown with some strands of hair loose and falling across where the girl's eyes would presumably be. But apart from those things, there were no details on the girl. She was just an outline. _She could be anyone._

"How do you not know?"

"Because…as The Distant Oceans' link to the real world, she needs to be the opposite of him as much as possible, but she can't be so far removed that it wouldn't make sense for them to have ever known each other. So in some ways, they need to be similar. I'm thinking her alias should be The Water's Edge, to that end, but I feel like it may be more fitting to give her an alias that links with the land. What do you think, Protector of the Small?"

"Um, Tada, you realise none of that made sense to me, right?" Tsukuda sweat-dropped.

"Right, right." Tada nodded absently. His pencil started moving again, and she watched his thoughts spread out on the page, fascinated despite her lack of artistic sense. There was something frenetic about how he drew. Tsukuda looked down at the guidebook she was holding. She knew that it was something that Tada and Hiro's mother's class had used back when she had been their age, and that apparently one of their teacher's had written it. It was a pretty good testimony to how good that teacher must have been because some of the details they'd put in were mind-blowing. _And those memories probably meant a lot to their mother, and to Isogai and the other two. And maybe anyone else who was in that class._

She'd wondered how it was that Tada had ended up bringing along his copy. She couldn't imagine that Hiro wouldn't have wanted it, but when she'd asked about that earlier on in the train journey, Tada had brushed her off with something about photocopying and compromises, but he'd seemed a bit brittle at the question. But although she had really wanted to probe more into that, she really didn't think that would be a good idea. Back when they'd been waiting for everyone else, she'd completely forgotten that Asami was Hana's sister and had been a bit of a bull in a china shop. And she knew full well that sisters were complicated, so she decided to tread carefully. Not that she wasn't going to check on Tada later. He was important to her.

"Maybe you need some input, about names." She decided to not dwell on the complicatedness of sisters, focussing on his art instead. Tada blinked at her, and she proceeded to involve some of the others in the naming process. After all, they'd all heard some of the stories he drew.

"Hey, Izzy, Hana, what do you thi-uh, right…"

"Hanae-Chan, what is it?"

When Tada looked up, he, too, sighed and sweat-dropped at the sight in front of him. Hana and Izzy at some point had both fallen asleep. Izzy's head drooped slightly and his mouth was slack, but mostly he was leaning back in his sleep, whereas Hana had turned slightly to the side slightly, leaned her arm against Izzy's armrest, and had used said arm as a pillow. One of Izzy's arms was also using this arm rest. Hana's hair, which for some reason she had pulled into two braids for that day, framed her sleeping profile and made her seem younger. Neither student was snoring, but Hana made a few kittenish sighs, oblivious to the world. _That's…actually kind of cute. No, actually, that's super adorable! Squee!_ Internally, Tsukuda cooed at the sight, but externally, she was just baffled.

"When on earth did that happen? Weren't you guys all talking a while ago?" Tada addressed Kuroba. The redhead gave Tada a haughty look. _Totally called that one, didn't I?_ Tsukuda's mouth twisted into a wry smile, which she directed at Kuroba just to make him squirm. But surprisingly, he didn't dismiss Tada out of hand.

"Izzy has a tendency to stay up on his computers all night. Undoubtedly that caught up with him." The way Kuroba said this, complete with the resigned shake of the head, seemed to suggest that he had talked about this with Izzy a lot, only to no avail.

"No idea about the Aoshima girl, though." Kuroba added blithely.

"Should we wake them up?" Tada wondered. "I mean, wouldn't they just be drowsy or something when we're going around Kyoto?"

"I'm loath to admit you have a point, but you do. However, Izzy need to conserve his energy." Kuroba stated shortly.

"We are walking a lot…"Tsukuda started slowly, remembering a scrawny fourth grade kid holding onto an inhaler as if it was gold.

"Yeah, I guess we'll just leave them be until the train pulls in." Tada decided. Kuroba nodded, and then rifled in his bag to pull out a book on astrophysics and read it. Tsukuda raised an eyebrow in respect, but wasn't about to try and engage him in conversation, so again she returned to watching Tada draw.

"Ayu." The name occurred to her randomly.

"Ayu?" Tada tilted his head at her, curious. Irrationally, Tsukuda took that look and filed it in her memory to treasure.

"Like in the names 'Ayumi' or 'Ayumu'. To pace, to walk. Ayu. "Tsukuda pointed to the blank girl on the page, the one who could be anyone. "She could be 'Ayu', right?"

Tada held her gaze for a while. He looked down at the girl in all her forms on the page. His pencil added a few folds on a sleeve on one version, changed the hem of the skirt on another. Then, oh-so-carefully, he moved to a blank section of the place and wrote _Ayu?_ Then, he looked up and smiled at her. She grinned back.

"Tell me one of the stories then, Tada the Wizard."

"Pffft. Wizard?! Where the hell did that come from, Hanae-Chan?!"

Tsukuda cracked up at the look on his face, feeling cheeky.

"Remember the first time you shared The Distant Ocean with us? What Azama said?"

"Uh…" Tada thought for a while, then spluttered, obviously remembering. "Seriously?!"

"Yup. " She figured that it was fair enough given how he'd dubbed her 'Protector of the Small'. She said this to Tada, flustering him further, but they were both in stitches for a good few moments until they remembered that Izzy and Hana were sleeping. Chastened, they both flicked glances to the two, only to see that they were still asleep, utterly oblivious. Kuroba, however, had been watching them and now gave them a disapproving look. For some reason, this seemed to make them lapse into stronger hysterics, and they both had to cover their mouths with their hands and supress the laughter.

When they calmed down though, Tsukuda made her request again.

"So, another story then, Tada?" she didn't say the word 'please', but she wove it into her question, knowing that Tada would be able to hear it perfectly. And indeed, he did, because after a moment of contemplation, he nodded, took a breath, and launched into a story.

And as Tsukuda closed her eyes to listen, she couldn't help but think: _Yes, this is the life. This is the life._

 **…**

After a few minutes of walking, Tada decided that the worst thing about their class being put into the traditional inn wasn't that it was while the rest of their year were stationed into a luxury hotel. After all, there was nothing actually wrong with a traditional inn- in the previous visits to Kyoto in the times of _before_ , when he hadn't stayed at Kou's house, he'd stayed in an inn. And it was perfectly fine.

No, the worst thing about it was that the luxury hotel the main campus had right next door to the inn 3E would be staying in. This meant that they all more or less walked through the streets of Kyoto together. It was as if the main campus was trying to rub their 'privilege' in 3E's faces.

"It's practical, isn't it, given that we still go to the same school?" Tsuwabuki had pointed out when Hirigi had voiced Tada's sentiments as they'd gotten off the train. And much to his chagrin, he had to admit this was true. Even if, as Eriko had countered, it would have been a whole lot more practical for them all to be in the same accommodation.

 _Well, at least they aren't trying to do anything to us while we walk._ Sure, Otsuka and Maeda had happily brushed by some of them as they got off the train just to throw derogatory words at them, Hasegawa's mere presence gave the Tada the chills (for he hadn't forgotten the library or the midterms) and there were some sniggers from other main campus students. Ueno kept himself scarce, but somehow this didn't surprise Tada.

In any case, despite the little annoyances, as far as the discriminatory acts went, these weren't too bad in Tada's mind. That, and they'd managed to continue on all the way to the street the two places of accommodation were located without too much trouble. But all that changed when two boys rushed forward suddenly and shoved into Izzy, almost flooring him. They then ran forward, a few others following, looking for all the world like a bunch of teenagers just teasing each other. But they didn't look back at who they might have knocked over.

"Izzy!" Tsukuda, naturally rushed to his aid, but Kuroba was already there, solicitous to Izzy in a way he wasn't with anyone else. Izzy looked a bit dazed and pale, but he didn't seem to be out of breath, and attempted instantly to right himself.

"Where did they go?" Tsukuda looked around wildly. "Where did they go? Couldn't they at least have said 'my bad' or something?"

"That would be wonderful but you and I both know why that won't occur." Kuroba snapped frostily at her, before turning to help Izzy, tutting worriedly, dusting him down and asking all sorts of questions. Eventually, Izzy had to (gently) shove Kuroba to the side.

"I'm fine, Mummy dearest, really."

Izzy stuck his tongue out to punctuate this statement. Tsukuda cackled at this, and it took Tada a moment to fully comprehend what Izzy had said before he, too, laughed. Hana, who had been trailing behind them, giggled. Kuroba eyeballed Izzy for a moment, and then found himself chuckling, clearly against his better will. Yukiyama, naturally, had been walking a little apart from them, and so hadn't really clocked anything was wrong. But now, he turned back and approached them, closed off but curious.

"Well then. If you say so." Kuroba conceded unwillingly. "But at least let's take a moment to rest."

Since they were all near the side of the road anyway, they didn't need to move, so Tada shrugged. He scanned the area to look for Ichijou, and found her engaged in discussion with Azama. Naturally, she hadn't noticed that anything was amiss. _Well that's helpful._

"We're practically there anyway though." He pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Tsukuda said, pointing at the building that main campus students were disappearing into. "It must be just past there."

"It _is_ just past there." Tada said dryly.

"Can you walk up to there, Izzy?" Kuroba inquired. Izzy, who was drinking a bottle of water and had much of his colour returned to him, nodded.

"Yeah, I can." At this, Hana hesitantly patted his head in the same way one might do to a puppy or kitten, and Izzy gave her one of the friendlier versions of his wolfish grin before they set off. The small portion of the walk was uneventful as they closed the distance between their group and the rest of the class, somehow melding in without anyone noticing what had happened.

"We're here." Tsukuda commented when they reached the door of the inn.

"Yup." Tada agreed, looking at the place that was so familiar despite having never been in there. "Yeah, we're here."

 **I used '-' to indicate being unable to hear the words in question. In Tsukuda's case, this is also just not being able to generally decipher them, as she isn't that great at English. Anyway, the song that Fuyumi was (unsuccessfully) singing was 'Undone' by Alice Temple, which is the song used in the documentary film 'Dreams of a Life'.**


	20. Kyoto Trip, part 2

**Righty-aighty then, since we're actually 'in' Kyoto this chapter, I'll just briefly list the sources I used for the trip aspects of this. No APA formatting or anything, just a list. I get enough of proper referencing of sources with coursework. So, anyway:**

 **-The Ansatsu Database tumblr**

 **-Various tourism websites about Kyoto, mostly looking at pages about attractions and souvenirs etc.**

 **-Some fanfics on this site that are also closely mirroring the school year that AssClass had and have already gone through their own Kyoto trip arcs. The one I mostly got help from is 'Go Out With A Smile' by Little Lady Otaku. As it happened, Little Lady Otaku also directly gave me some advice about figuring out how best to use the research, so many thanks there!**

 **-The 'Creepy Kyoto' page of the Cycle Kyoto website.**

 **Anyway, as with other aspects of this that I'm not well versed in, any mistakes are my own and I take responsibility for those. And as usual, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please leave feedback (feedback is awesome, and I've already got over 100 reviews, so thanks to all of you who left me feedback so far ^^!).**

* * *

To him, the morning sun was somewhat futile trying to warm him as he walked down streets he'd known for a long time. No, the flowers he carried in his arms, the bag that was slung across his form (a form that was as slight as it had been all those years ago) and the recollections that nestled in the crevices of his soul did far more to both warm him up and weigh him down than the weather ever could.

The last time he'd walked around openly in his home town had, in the grand scheme of his life, not been that long ago. The last time he'd visited her had been in the same time period. But after, he'd had to flee as far as his means would take him, much like he'd done when he'd first slipped into this life. And that impulse, that need he couldn't outrun, only served to show how much of a failure he was, and how much he would always be one.

" _That…that doesn't make sense. That doesn't make sense…..I got her last letter just weeks ago and….she said she was fine…." She looked down, her fists curling up in barely retrained anger, an anger he hadn't seen for ages. A moment passed in silence, her biting her lip to keep her fury inside, he looking for words that would fly past his and fix everything._

" _We ourselves only found out a few days ago." He blurted out suddenly, helpless as always. She nodded numbly but still didn't look up, and he felt the weight of his failures again. His mind wandered, thinking of fading smiles and fresh tears. Flowers, funerals. Death itself was not something he was unfamiliar with. Hell, none of them were. But like this….it couldn't be like this. He had no idea if he'd have the courage to stick around and deal with all that, and he hated himself for it._ But you could, couldn't you? _He looked at her, this girl he'd always valued and had come to love. And then he thought of something._

" _I'll ask." He said, making her look up. "I'll ask, for a furlough for you or something. Get you out for a while, even if only for…." Now it was his turn to trail off, for he could not bring himself to finish that sentence. It really wasn't right. It just wasn't._

" _No need." Her voice had gone cold, and the way she looked at him now…in all the years of knowing her, he had only seen that look twice. The first was when she'd revealed the truth. The second time was a fleeting flash, one given while she still crouched over the body of that_ person _, wild and delirious. The last time she'd been out in the world as a free woman._

" _No need. They're not going to give me one, and you know it. Why would they let someone like me out?"_

 _He opened his mouth to try and defend her, but words failed him. Once, they wouldn't have. But this was part of his punishment. He deserved this, this inability to soothe the one closest to his heart. She noticed the pain in his demeanour though, and her own softened instantly, and when she spoke again her voice recalled lazy evenings and nights in bed, stark in contrast to their current truth._

" _You should go now, I think. I…I need time to process this. But…write to me? And come back when you can. If you can."_

Of course, she had been right. When he'd asked about the possibility that she'd be let out on a temporary basis, he'd been sneered down. Never mind the fact that it was for a funeral, of all things. And true to what was now his convention, he hadn't returned since then. He hadn't even attended the funeral for the both of them. Oh, he had hovered, but he hadn't been able to cross the threshold, and had fled soon after. After that, he hadn't come anywhere near this town, at least not until he'd had that sudden urge to go back to the forest. She should have been enough for him, the fact she was still here in the world as opposed to poor Hinano, should have been enough. And yet, it hadn't been. Just another regret to add to the long list he already held.

 _At least I'm here now,_ he mused, stopping at the corner of the street for a moment. The people around him didn't bat an eyelid, just continuing on their way as usual, even as the breeze tickled his distinctive hair. Looking up to the sky, he saw that the moon was hidden today, but he could visualise it as if it was actually there. Just like he could visualise all the deaths he'd caused as if he was at the scene.

 _The streets he'd walked on and past for years and years seemed unfamiliar now as he tried to stumble his way home, words ringing in his head._ Guilty. Guilty. _It didn't seem right, or logical, but he knew that in the eyes of the world and the law it was. But even so…he wanted to yell, to rail at the world. Instead, he folded up into his furthest corners and stumbled around, trying to recall where he was. To others in the street, he probably would have looked drunk, but that was a laughable idea. Alcohol could not rival what was in his mind right now, could not surpass this state he was in._

 _Suddenly, a thick, imposing wall seemed to place itself in front of him, and he stumbled suddenly, skidding and stopping. And then the wall quietly boomed out his name and he realised it was a person. This person's presence in this place, at this moment, was unexpected. But he did not find himself surprised. Of course this person was here, somehow watching over them all, in a different way to the others who did the same thing, but even so._

" _You're troubled."_

 _Well, of course he was. He was utterly alone but everything inside his head was crowded and everything around him was distorting. Nothing made sense, he wanted to curl up and cry for a long long time, but he had no idea where sanctuary was anymore. He dropped to his knees, his own weight too much to carry._

" _Is…there something I can do for you?" the way this person said it suggested that the answer was already known, but how could it be? Even he didn't know it. Yet….everything hurt, hurt. It was too much. It needed to stop. It needed….to be stopped._

 _So, almost on autopilot, he lifted his head, turned his face up to meet the eyes of this imposing wall of a person, and made his plea._

" _Please…please teach me how to disappear. "_

Feeling himself tremble, leaf-like, he buried his face in the flowers he was holding, and let the scent re-bolster him. _At least I'm here now,_ he reminded himself. He allowed himself a smile, and another glance at the sky, before he began walking again, thinking of how happy she would be to see him again. How good it would be to see her again, to remind himself of what was good in the world. And naturally, he had to tell her about the children. About what they were attempting to do. About how they would be sure to achieve it. All of it.

 _I wonder what they're up to, over in Kyoto…_

 **…**

Tada and the others were not the only school-trippers on the bus heading towards the museum. Other middle school students, as well as some high-schoolers, all clustered in their own little groups, going over their plans, chatting or looking at each other's phones. Tada noticed some of the high schoolers bore the uniform of Kou's school, and he remembered that there was both a marching band practise and a choir tournament-type thing occurring that day. He hadn't yet broached the idea of going to view the marching band practise with the others, but he thought that might be fun.

"Man, I'm actually kinda glad there aren't any main campus students here." Tsukuda said, munching on some sort of fruit snack. Tada blinked, putting aside the thought of Kou's band, and tried to formulate a response when Izzy decided to answer first.

"Yeah." Izzy agreed, turning around in his seat and pulling a pouty kind of face. "I _reeeallly_ don't want to deal with people today."

"Then how are you dealing with us?" Hana asked innocently at the same time as Tsukuda fiercely declared:

"I wouldn't let anyone cause us any trouble!"

"Ahh….now this is why _I'm_ glad they aren't here." Tada put in. "Sometimes, Protector of the Small, you're too much like your name."

"THAT ISN'T MY NAME!" Tsukuda protested, falling into giggles as she did so. A few high-schoolers, and the few older adults on the bus, turned and stared at her. Tada poked her arm to make her notice this, and eventually she pulled herself together.

"Well, it would be okay if Asami came, right?" Hana returned to the topic of main campus students. "And then that'd mean Hiro-san would be here, too. Both of our sisters!"

"Oh, yeah, where are your sisters off to anyway?" Izzy asked, still kneeling precariously on the seat and grinning at them, red eyes sparkling and hair slightly wild.

"Gion."

Their heads all whipped over to Yukiyama, who was sitting in front of Kuroba and Izzy, holding an open copy of a Ranpo Edogawa book that had one of Hiro's bookmarks sticking out of it. He regarded them frostily for a moment before turning back to the book. _Typical._

"Well, that's right. It's either there or the Costume Museum, depending on if they have time." Tada confirmed after a moment to dispel the awkwardness. "We haven't actually been there, and Hiro's always been interested in clothes."

"There's a museum of costumes?" Hana asked. "That sounds interesting. I hope Asami-Chan has time to go there, and then she can tell me about it…."

Hana trailed off wistfully, and stared off into the distance for a moment. Then she gave a one shouldered shrug, almost to herself. Smartly, Tsukuda handed the girl one of her fruit snacks, and she accepted it. _I should say something kind,_ Tada thought, although he couldn't think of anything.

"Well, we're going to an _art_ museum, aren't we? Surely that's fine enough." Kuroba chipped in at this point, almost snidely. Tada chose not to rise to this. Luckily, Kuroba decided not to shower his universal disapproval on them anymore and turned his attention to Izzy, who was kneeling on his seat as the bus drove along the streets happily.

"You shouldn't sit like that, it's dangerous." Kuroba informed him.

"Why? It isn't illegal, and hell, I haven't been caught."

"Uh…." _Even if there's a crossover at times, there's a big difference between illegal and dangerous!_ Tada and Tsukuda exchanged conspiratorial looks. Izzy was just too off-the-wall sometimes, which made him scary in a completely different way to Kuroba, who now looked very, very sternly at Izzy.

"Well, I've caught you." Kuroba stated shortly. "Just sit down. And eat something. Even if it's one of Tsukuda's bizarre items, or Tada's sweets."

"Hey! Apple crisps aren't weird!"

"They _are_." Hana nodded seriously, as if the normalcy of apple crisps was a critical social issue. "But tasty, too."

This made Tada chuckle, and Kuroba even smiled a little at Hana's earnest pleasantness.

"I'm not even hungry." Izzy complained. "And I'm not tired anymore, I promise."

"You sure?" Tada asked, suddenly recalling both Izzy's long sleep on the train to Kyoto, as well as his paleness when the main campus students had knocked into him. Izzy didn't look any the worse for wear now, but…. _there's no way of knowing these things. Life can change in an instant._ Tada shivered, suddenly. Somehow, he'd managed to scare himself. Without looking at him, Tsukuda's hand closed around Tada's fingers and squeezed briefly before she reached in her packet for another apple crisp and chewed on it.

Izzy turned back around in his seat and sat down properly, and just in time as the bus screeched to a halt at the traffic lights. Then, he tipped his head back so he was still looking at Tada, Tsukuda and Hana. The result was that Izzy looked upside down to Tada (and he was sure that he was upside down to Izzy, too). An odd sensation, to be sure. Even Kuroba eyeballed Izzy as if he was mad.

"If anything goes wrong, you'll just have to wait for me." Izzy grinned, and given that he was upside down, it looked more fearsome than normal

"And I have both my inhalers, so it's fine. " Izzy added blithely. He made a vague hand gesture to indicate his waist pouch and trouser pockets, presumably where his inhalers were kept. .He didn't pull them out to prove it, but the air around him had Tada believing it, so he just shrugged and let it go.

"You should let me keep hold of a third, you know." Kuroba still somehow managed to find something to nit-pick about. _You could give him the benefit of the doubt!_

"Oh, Sei-Chan." Izzy sighed, conveying volumes. Tsukuda sniggered, and Kuroba glared. At that point, the bus began to move again, and the motion gave Tada's brain a jolt.

"Right!" Tada brought both his hands down to hit the guidebook that had been nestled in his lap the whole time, startling two high-school girls who were next to them. He quickly smiled an apology at them before turning back to the group.

"Right then. How about we consult this thing to see what the best souvenirs are?" He thought he should really bring up the marching band, but again decided to save that for a bit later, when they'd finished the museum.

"Sounds good to me." Izzy sat up normally- and then climbed on his knees and turned around on the seat again, grinning evilly. All of them (apart from Yukiyama) groaned instantly.

"IZZY!"

 **…**

"So, that's the site of Ryoma Sakamoto's killing, as well as the Mimizuka mount."

Eriko looked down at the roughly thirty-year-old essay as they ambled down the streets of Kyoto, regarding the neat yet frail writing that detailed the various bloody events that had taken place in the city.

"What should we do next?" She addressed her whole group, still reading the words. _Kyoto, the Assassination Capital. Why does that chill me?_

"Weren't we going to the Imperial Palace?" Kinomoto asked.

"Eri-Chan, you probably shouldn't focus so hard on the paper." Kaori reminded her. Eriko nodded and lowered the paper down. _Probably a good idea, Kao-Chan. I'm seriously creeped out._ She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before deciding to address the issue at hand.

"Yes, we were going to go there…" she answered Kinomoto. "But we can't do all of this in one day."

"Well, it's along the way, right?" Haru consulted her map, frowning. Tsuwabuki did the same for a moment before agreeing. They found a bench on the corner of a street that didn't look so touristy, and they all stopped to huddle around and peer at the maps and essay while debating their next action.

"I think it'd be cooler it if we just wandered around spontaneously for a little bit." Hirigi put in after mostly remaining quiet.

"Why's that, Hirigi-kun?" Tsuwabuki inquired. "There's still a lot that we haven't seen, and even more we won't get to see."

"Well…we've mostly been wandering in and out of shrines, and don't they get the same after a while? It's kind of boring."

"Uh…Hirigi-san….the essay?" Eriko waved the pieces of paper that she was holding at Hirigi. He wrinkled his forehead, and then shrugged. Kaori snatched the essay from Eriko playfully, and leaned back on the bench, looking up at the sky.

"I've found it really interesting, so far. I mean, I knew about Ryoma Sakamoto, and the Kinmon Incident, and all the executions and suicides that happened at _Ichijo Modobashori_. I didn't even realise how many of Japan's most bloody events occurred in the same place." Kaori mused.

"It is all rather riveting material." Kinomoto agreed complacently, smiling.

"Admittedly, it might be easier to get things to stick if we were tested on this type of thing in school." Hirigi said nonchalantly as he, too, looked at the words of the essay.

"That wouldn't really work for something like Maths though, Kazuma-kun." Haru laughed, finding Hirigi's observation funny.

"The Assassination Capital…" Eriko tested the words aloud, finding them weird in her mouth. "I don't understand why whoever wrote that essay called it that. Can these events really be considered assassinations, though? "

"In a rough sense, yes they could be." Kaori explained. "But, what do you mean, 'whoever wrote the essay'? Wasn't that Tada-san's mum?"

"That's kind of like saying that because the copy of that big chunky guidebook Tada is currently lugging around whatever part of Kyoto he's in was from his mother's class, that means she wrote it." Tsuwabuki deadpanned. Kaori merely raised an eyebrow at this.

"It wasn't, anyway." Eriko said. "Tada said that anyway, but I was talking to Kataoka-san about it last night and she confirmed it, Kao-Chan."

"Did she tell you who wrote it?" Kaori inquired. "Was it her, or maybe Isogai-san or Maehara-san?"

"Not that one, no. Apparently the whole class that time was taught about the assassination aspects of Kyoto's history, and most of them did include some bits of that when they had to write about the trip. But this was the only essay that revolved entirely around the theme."

"So who was it then, may I ask?" Tsuwabuki nodded seriously as if the issue was one of great importance. "I mean, it's not as if we know them or anything, but I'd like to know, as a matter of interest, you know?"

"I forgot to ask, actually." This wasn't entirely true. When Eriko had asked, Megu's replies had been initially been open, but once she'd quoted part of the essay to help clarify it, and when she'd explained that Tada's sister had found it tucked in the pages of a photo album that chronicled the 3E of thirty years ago, those replies had taken a long time in coming, and Megu had somehow evaded the simple question of 'who wrote it?'. So Eriko had pretended not to notice that, and they continued to chat about other well into the night. _I think that class maybe had a lot of sadness attached to it. But it would not be right for me to run my mouth off about it._

Kaori gave Eriko a look that indicated that she didn't buy Eriko's simple answer. _Ah, best friends._ But she didn't press Eriko, instead folding the paper up in her pocket and sitting up straight again.

"So, "Eriko cleared her throat, trying to steer the conversation back to the question of where to go next. "What next?"

"To be honest, I don't really mind where we go. I'm fine with whatever. " Kinomoto said.

"Me, too." Haru agreed.

"I still wanna just amble." Hirigi groaned.

"I'd like to try and complete more of the points on the essay." Tsuwabuki put in, "Or at least actually visit more sights, even if they aren't assassination related, or even history related. If there were any good museums within our remit, I'd gun for those, but as it is…"

"Isn't everything in Kyoto history related anyway?" Kaori wondered.

"Uh, International Manga Museum?" Hirigi asked, eyebrow raised. Everyone groaned silently, remembering the bizarre, sustained petition that Ruko had made to her group mates on the train. Through sheer persistence and annoyingness, Ruko had won. Naturally. It was a disquieting realisation. Eriko was the first to pull herself out of it. As the class representative in the group, she should be the one to make the decision.

"Okay!" she declared briskly. "Here's what we'll do: We'll head to the _Ichijo Modobashori_ like planned. Then, from there, we'll just amble randomly like Hirigi-san wanted, until it's time to go back to the inn. Does that work for everyone?"

"Yup!" they all chorused. At the same moment, the quite distinctive sound of a stomach rumbling could be heard. All heads swivelled to Haru, who went bright red and folded her arms around herself in embarrassment.

"But first….. we should get something to eat, right, Haruka-Chan? Are there any good places to eat around here? " Hirigi took a hold of Haru's map and scrutinised it.

Haru just nodded at Hirigi's comment, clearly still embarrassed. Kinomoto patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. Eriko made sure Haru's embarrassment wasn't dwelt upon by quickly drawing the others into a little discussion about food, and soon they were setting off to find somewhere good to have a meal.

"Hey, this seems like an okay place." Kaori said after they'd had about 10 minutes of wandering around. They all clustered near the door of the establishment (but naturally, not so close that nobody could get through).

The establishment in question was a reasonable sized place, with somewhat frilly décor, but not in a way that was too ostentatious. There were a good amount of customers in the place, but not so many that it was overcrowded, as many of the places they'd passed had been. And judging by the things various people were eating, the place was slightly more restaurant than after-school café.

"Hmm…say, Eri-Chan, what do you think? Would Fumiko-senpai approve?" Kaori grinned, and Eriko chuckled, thinking of Oceanfront. Even though that place was _definitely_ more after-school café than restaurant, she liked that place a lot.

"Yeah, I think so."

"I second that!" Haru agreed happily.

"Okay then, this is where we'll eat then." Tsuwabuki concluded for them. "Seems pretty obvious."

"Yes, that it most certainly is." Eriko said wryly.

When they got inside, it didn't take them long to realise that even with a lot of space, there was no way for all six for them to sit next to each other. But one of the waiters managed to find two three-seater tables relatively near each other, so Eriko and Kaori sat with Tsuwabuki while Haru chose to be with Kinomoto and Hirigi, and they still managed to exchange conversation across tables without disturbing everyone else.

For a while, the atmosphere was light and pleasant, as they chatted about various things, including but not limited to what they would order and what they were planning to do next. A few times, they brought up their class's project, but not all that often. After all, they'd all decided to just enjoy the trip for what it was, and not get into anything that could constitute trouble.

But all that changed when Hirigi noticed something just outside the window.

"What is that noise?" he wondered, tilting his head as his attention seemed to get grasped away from the discussion about food they'd all lapsed into.

"What noise, Kazuma-kun?" Haru asked. Kazuma pointed at the window.

"Out there. The scuffle. Can't you hear it?" _No, I…wait, hold on._

"I think I hear something…..but there are a lot of noises, it's the middle of the afternoon."

"Oh, I see something!" Tsuwabuki stood up and walked the short distance to the window, staring out at something that wasn't completely within the frame of it. Curious, Eriko and Kaori also stood up and followed him. Soon, they were all peering out of the window, trying to see what had caught Hirigi's attention.

"And _who_ do you think you are, exactly?" the furious male voice, which seemed to be coming from one of the high-schoolers in the tussle managed to reach their ears distinctively. Which one of these students was the owner of the voice-and whoever they were addressing so angrily-wasn't clear, but the sound bite was enough to nail down the situation Eriko and the others were witnessing. _Harassment._

"It's a fight." Tsuwabuki concluded grimly after more than a few flashes of unfamiliar school uniform, limbs, hair and annoyed shouts had all passed by them.

"Sure looks like it. Maybe local students. Oh well." Kaori sat down with a sigh.

"Kao-Chan! " Eriko scolded half-heartedly as she turned to her friend, ready to tell her that even if the students fighting had nothing to do with them and it would serve no purpose to get involved, they couldn't just be so apathetic about it. But she had just seen something which was familiar, and she whipped back around to see what it was. _What was it? Where is it?_

"Stop that! Leave us alone "The muffled shriek of a girl pleaded. "And Akabane-kun, back down, _please_!"

Surprised that a crowd hadn't yet formed around the students, Eriko took advantage of that to try and see what had caught her eye. And then she saw it. A flash of grey. A very, very familiar shade of grey on a very familiar style of clothing.

 _Ah, it looks like we can't escape it._

"Eri-Chan, what is it?" Kaori asked anxiously as Eriko left the window and went back to her chair. She swept up her things and pushed her chair in before striding off purposefully, but almost panicked, too. She could almost feel the floor being worn away under her feet, kicking dust up and away.

"We can't stay uninvolved. " Eriko called back by way of explanation.

"Those guys are from Class 3C! What the hell are they doing picking fights with high school students?! " Hirigi exclaimed behind her, clearly having just noticed the same thing she had.

"That's a bit outrageous!" Tsuwabuki could be heard protesting, even as the others could be heard also gathering their things and pushing the chairs in again.

"Oh who the hell cares what long word it is! We need to follow Eriko-Chan!" Hirigi yelled. "Kinomoto-kun, hurry up!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying."

"Eriko-san, wait for us! We're coming. " Haru called out. Eriko didn't stop, but she did turn around long enough to notice that her classmates were all coming behind her, presumably with the intention to help her. The place suddenly seemed a lot larger, and they needed to dodge a few people to get to the door. The thought that they were causing a disturbance entered Eriko's mind briefly, but she flung the thought in the dark. Right now, something wrong was happening, and they had witnessed it, and therefore needed to intervene. So that was what they would do- the consequences would need to be dealt with later.

 _And I promised Kataoka-san that I'd keep on persisting, in doing the right thing._


	21. Kyoto Trip, part 3

"I think we need to sit down and sort ourselves out. " Tada decided as they left the Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts, arms laden with arty souvenirs and various flyers.

"Agreed. This is ridiculous. Why didn't we just do the normal thing and just visit whatever shrines in the area?" Kuroba griped.

"Well, someone's a sourpuss, aren't they?" Tsukuda chirpily retorted, before bee lining towards a bench. _I'm inclined to agree._

"Why the fuck would you want to visit a shrine? They're overrated." Yukiyama stated shortly when he passed Kuroba to reach the bench. Tada was sure Kuroba would find something suitably cutting to say, but he didn't. Instead, he plonked himself on another nearby bench, and Izzy joined him.

"Well, a shrine would probably be okay if it was nearing an auspicious occasion." Hana added as she busily sorted out the things she had bought into piles.

"I suppose so." Tada conceded, doing the same thing. "Anyway, what did you get, Hana-Chan?"

Hana smiled up at him, and indicated what she'd spread out on the bench. One woven bag, various _furoshiki_ and some other trinkets, including two decorative boxes. She was currently busy separating the _furoshiki_ into two piles.

"I'm giving some to Asami." Hana explained as she busily sorted and folded them. She paused for a moment to open the two boxes, before picking up one of the piles and folding it again to put carefully in the pink box, before doing the same with the purple box. Then, she continued. Tada couldn't discern what system Hana was using to decide which ones would belong to Asami, and which ones to her, but there seemed to be _some_ sort of system, all the same.

But one Hana came across seemed to give her pause. It was dark blue, and had a pattern of flying birds in white printed across it. Tada thought they could be cranes but he couldn't be sure. Hana stared at it for a long, long time without picking it up. Her expression was utterly inexplicable, even as she mouthed something indiscernible. Then, slowly, she reached for it.

"Tada, hey, Tada! Help me put these in my hair?"

Tada whirled around to face Tsukuda, who held out a decorative, flowery looking hair tie and an elaborate hairpin. She grinned at him. Tada glanced over his shoulder at Hana, who seemed recovered from whatever had caused her odd reverie. He also noted Yukiyama listening to music and looking out into the distance while Izzy and Kuroba remained further away, chatting enthusiastically while Izzy used the bench to show off some of his jumps or something along those lines. _Utterly inexplicable._

"Okay then." He said eventually, returning to facing Tsukuda. She grinned again, and shoved the items in his somewhat unprepared hands before turning so her back was facing him.

"Uh…should I untie your ponytail and start from scratch?" Tada asked.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. No, wait, I'll untie the ponytail. Tsukuda's hands deftly to release her hair from the hairband and it fell, cascading. Tada caught the scent of something he could not define, but liked all the same. He almost forgot to grab the original hairband while thinking about it. _Great job, Tada!_

Hiding his embarrassment with silence, he quickly twisted the decorative hair tie and the plain hairband around each other so that it would tie tighter, then gathered her hair up back into the shape of the ponytail it had been in before, silky strands struggling in his fingers. _Bloody hell, her hair is long._ Somehow though, he managed to tie it up. But he still found himself feeling rather flustered, and that annoyed him, so with some effort, he clamped it down and continued on.

"That good enough?" he asked once he'd adjusted the hairband so the decorative bits could clearly be seen. Tsukuda tilted her head to either side, as if considering the feel of it, then reached up to tentatively touch the hairband, her fingers feeling out the little flowers.

"What about the clip?" she asked without turning around. Tada sighed deeply, but obliged all the same, wondering where the best place to clip it in without clashing with the decorativeness of the hairband. Then, he just shrugged to himself.

"Hanae-Chan, I have no idea what to do with this." He confessed. Tsukuda whipped around, and her fringe tickled her face, which actually gave him an idea. He held out the hairpin.

"Just clip back some part of your fringe or something. "

Tsukuda pouted, but then took the hairpin and did just that. Then, she beamed.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Cuuuute." Hana said approvingly, causing Tsukuda to turn and laugh, ruffling Hana's hair. Hana giggled, causing the black hoodie that had materialised and hung itself over her shoulder (as if she was a clothes rack or something) to slip. She caught it and readjusted it without becoming too fazed.

"Looks nice." Tada said, honestly. _And the more I think about that, the more it's true._ And as soon as that thought came, he blinked, wondering where, exactly, it had come from. But he didn't get a chance to properly think of it, as a shout came from further down the street. There were plenty of loud noises, and plenty of boisterous students around, so Tada wouldn't have thought anything of it if he hadn't realised it was coming from where Izzy and Kuroba were coming from. That, and something was just _not right_.

"Sei-Chan, I c…I can't f...f…find it..!"

 **…**

There was no time for Eriko to coordinate any plan with anyone from her group as they hurtled towards the site of the apparent fight, but as it happened, they all seemed to assign themselves to roles. Hirigi tackled one of the main campus students, Tsuwabuki got between another one and the high school girl who was arguing with him, shielding her. Kinomoto, Haru and Kaori all formed a human barricade in front of the remaining main campus students, and Eriko zoned in on the purple haired high-school boy who might or might not have been responsible for triggering things, quickly restraining him from behind.

And surprisingly, the group effort seemed to stop things, the five main campus students and the three high schoolers halting in their tracks. A moment passed where they were utterly silent, the high-school girl and the other boy looking at their classmate, the main campus students and finally the six of them, the new arrivals. Then, the girl edged away from behind Tsuwabuki and rushed to pick up something large that had been dropped. When she knelt to the ground to open the item, Eriko realised that it was a case for a musical instrument. _I'm so confused._

"Where did you all come from?!" the main campus boy who had been hit by Hirigi groaned from the floor. Eriko sighed.

"That hardly matters." She said brusquely before any protests could be made.

"Now, are you going to attack again, or can I let you go?" Eriko addressed the purple-haired boy, noticing his bruised hands. He twisted around to regard her, his gold eyes oddly searching as he scanned her face. Eventually, his expression relaxed, and his mouth quirked up into a smile.

"Let's see what happens, Eri-Chan, eh?"

Eriko jumped and let go on him as a reflex. She spluttered in astonishment. _I don't know this guy, do I?!_

"Woah, how do you know our names?!" Hirigi asked, bug-eyed. The purple haired boy gave a resigned laugh, which still somehow managed to sound rich and warm, as well as a little cheeky. He ran a hand through his hair and regarded them all.

"Well, unless I'm mistaken, you are in Tadacchi's class in Kunugigaoka Junior High, Kunugigaoka,Tokyo, right?"

Eriko genuinely had no response for that. But the boy, whatever his name was and however he knew Tada, didn't seem too concerned with clarifying anything for Eriko, instead turning to the general vicinity of the barricaded main campus boys. He dusted down his black trousers, rebuttoned his dark blue blazer, then spoke.

"Okay, so now we're not trying to kill each other anymore- not that I don't _want_ to kill you-"The boy's face took on a slightly evil look, giving Eriko the chills. "But anyway, could we just cut through the bull crap now? Then you can give me the inhaler, and I can pass it onto Eri-Chan or one of the other lovelies who just came to our aid, and they'll give it to the rightful owner."

"Lovely, them?" The main campus boy on the ground snorted. "You have _no idea_ what you're talking about!"

" _Oh_ , should I just kidnap you then?"

"Don't make me restrain you!" Eriko barked out, even as she clocked the jokey tone to his voice. He turned again and flashed her a smile. Eriko sighed deeply. She was definitely not connecting events together, but her brain didn't seem to want to work to rectify that. _What the hell is going on?_

"And anyway," a boy with dark green hair and pierced ears stepped out from behind Kinomoto, Haru and Kaori, all three of whom gave him a worried look. "It was just a joke. Like, really. "

The boy didn't seem like he was going to do anything, so Kaori broke off and returned to Eriko's side. Haru and Kinomoto trailed behind her, and the others soon joined. Accordingly, the main campus boys all clustered together, staring them down.

"You guys are _so_ going to get into trouble." The one who had been on the ground said. An impressive bruise was forming on his cheek. It looked like they _were_ going to get into trouble. _Ah, dammit._

"Yup," The boy with the pierced ears started. "Wait until our class teacher, or even Principal Okikura hears about this! You'll be expelled for sure."

"Hey, you were the ones who instigated the fight!" Hirigi yelled. "And you were the ones harassing people from other schools!"

"Yeah, yeah, but they won't believe you!" another of the boys retorted, causing all the others to laugh.

"Aaaaaaand you were hitting on YoriYori even though she told you to leave her alone, and you stole an inhaler from someone who needs it, and you probably damaged our instruments while you wer- actually, wait. YoriYori! How are the instruments?!"

Eriko turned to glare at the purple haired boy as he spoke loudly over the words and jeering. Was he seriously trying to rile the main campus students more? She just sighed and turned her attention to the person that the boy had been addressing as 'YoriYori'.

"Akabane-kun, don't call me that in front of strangers, please!" the girl said, running over holding two instrument cases. The other boy, a slight, pale being with brown eyes and floppy blond hair, carried two more as they came to join their purple-haired friend.

"Right, enough!" Tsuwabuki said. "There are a lot of things being stated or implied that aren't making a whole lot of sense right now. Could we at least get a full account of what happened before any adults are contacted or punishments are meted out?"

"Yes, go on then." The purple haired boy- _Akabane_? – taunted the main campus students. Eriko didn't bother to berate him this time. At least they didn't rise up to it this time, which was the main thing.

"I think your names, and what you were doing out of school, would be a good place to start."

"And we should probably move to the side, too." Kaori remarked, indicating where they were, Eriko realised her friend was right, so they all did just that, their invisible battle lines shifting alongside them. Once they had, Eriko opened her mouth to try and get things going along again, but she didn't need to, as the words tumbled from the pale boy's mouth.

"Okay, we're part of our high school's concert band, and we have a festival event-marching- coming up. So we were given the day off typical school to do a proper practise on the grounds where the festival will occur. A lot of events that happened could, well, make this story longer, but we were asked to go back to our school during the lunchbreak to pick up some spare instruments- Yorimoto-san's trumpet was …malfunctioning, for one thing- so this would be why we were wandering the streets at lunchtime. That sums it up, right, Yorimoto-san, Akabane-kun?" He checked.

The girl nodded, dark blue hair falling out from a pink hair slide and across her eyes somewhat.

"That's right. " She agreed. "And to be honest, I think Akaba- ah, wait, you wanted our names, right? He's Kou Akabane, I'm Yoriko Yorimoto and that's Yuuto Matsunaga. Just calling me Yoriko is fine, though."

Yoriko Yorimoto. _YoriYori._ Eriko face-palmed, and Tsuwabuki had a similar reaction. Clearly knowing what her reaction was about, Kou laughed heartily at her, before sticking his hands in his pockets and becoming serious. He fixed the main campus boys with a hard look, resulting in glares both defensive and belligerent.

"Aaaand, like I said, these guys appeared from nowhere and started to harass YoriYori, clearly thinking they're entitled to just take what they want. So obviously I needed to correct that assumption-"

"No, you _didn't_." Yoriko sighed. Kou ignored her smoothly.

"Anyway, as if that wasn't bad enough, they actually tried to claim they weren't doing anything wrong, and then this one here decided to start playing around with this stolen inhaler."

At this point, Kou stepped forward and casually crossed the battle lines so that he was face to face with the pierced-ears boy.

"Speaking of which…" his voice was little louder than a whisper, but still managed to sound threatening. His head tilted to the side, but of course, because he had his back turned to them, Eriko and the others couldn't see his expression. It probably wasn't anything good though.

"So….?" Kou asked, his voice still dangerously quiet. The boy with pierced ears groaned in annoyance.

"Fine, fine." He dug in his trouser pocket and threw something at Kou, whose hand whipped out and grabbed at it neatly without missing a beat. His fingers closed securely around it, and then he spun back around and returned to the other side.

"YoriYori, Mattsun, you'll back me up if these events get reported, right?" now Kou's voice was loud, as if trying to make sure the main campus boys could hear them.

"Yeah, I suppose." Matsunaga said. Kou nodded once, briefly.

"Good."

"Um, could you kindly clarify what you're alluding to, exactly?" Haru stepped forward and demanded levelly.

"Yeah, sure, Haru-Chan." Kou flashed a smile at Haru. Understandably, she looked wary. _How does he know our names?!_ Eriko asked herself the question again, but naturally, she found no answer.

"Here, catch this." Naturally though, Kou didn't clarify, and instead threw the object that he had coaxed (or forced) out of the main campus boys. Haru jumped, but caught it all the same, gripping it with both hands. She gripped it like that for a good few moments, still wary.

"Ichinose-san, what is it?" Kinomoto asked curiously. Haru looked over at him, and blinked.

"Yeah, let us see." Hirigi peered curiously at her closed hands. Tsuwabuki and Kaori joined the other two boys and crowded around her. The high-school students remained where they were, Yoriko and Matsunaga looking over at them from the ground where they were crouched, presumably checking over the musical instruments that they'd had. Kou was near them, and standing, watching them challengingly. All of them seemed to want to see what they'd make of whatever Haru was holding, but none of them seemed surprised about its existence. _I'm missing something, aren't I? I'm missing something._ Thinking that, she also crowded around Haru. She nodded at her friend once, and she uncurled her fingers hesitantly, revealing a small plastic tube like object.

"That's an inhaler." Hirigi stated the obvious. Haru nodded, looking at it and then holding it between her fingers as she turned it around.

"Say, Akabane-kun, why would you get so het up ove-ohhh. Oh. Oh no." Haru stuttered and came to a halt. Quietly, under her breath, she swore and then uttered something that sounded oddly like a prayer to Eriko's ears. _I don't like the sound of that…._

"I'd say, call me Kou, please, but I'll deal with that later. I think you can see that we possibly have more pressing things at hand."

"You're ridiculous, you know?" Tsuwabuki asked, sounding more than slightly baffled. Eriko couldn't blame him; she felt the same about Kou. Although there was definitely more to him. That and she agreed there were more pressing issues at hand.

"May I see that?" she asked, trying to hide the fact that Haru's reaction had shaken her. She plucked the inhaler out of Haru's hands before she could concede or object, and scanned it. And then her own eyes widened when she noticed the label stuck on the side of the inhaler.

And more importantly, the name that the label held: _Izaya Arisato_.

 **…**

"Stay back! Don't crowd around him!"

The voice of his first close friend since Tsugaru sounded distant and a little tinny to Izzy as he somehow found himself sitting on the ground, struggling and struggling to take a breath, just one breath. Blindly with his hands, he kept searching and searching his waist pouch and trouser pockets, hoping for the lifeline he needed, but his hands kept coming across other, more useless things. Rubber bands, paper clips, tissues, his switch-blade knives (because he definitely did _not_ keep pencils in his trouser pockets), a toy that had come with his breakfast cereal (probably, he couldn't tell and hadn't the energy to look), a twig and a folded piece of paper. All useful things at other times, but not now. Definitely not now.

 _Stay calm, Izzy, Izaya. Stay calm. This isn't the worst you've had._ There had been worse asthma attacks when he'd been younger, ones that had resulted with him being in hospital. But since 3E, since the possibility of 3E, the most he'd had to do was to take a puff or two from his inhaler occasionally. Or even a puff from the spare one. But where were they? He was sure he'd had both of them, one in the pouch, one in the pocket. He was sure of it, he checked every time he left somewhere. So…where?

The more he searched, the more his panic mounted, and the more his throat closed up. His hands began to flutter, unable to grasp onto anything, and he gave up on that particular endeavour. All the same, he kept gasping, hoping to get some supplies of air. A couple of times, he coughed, and each one seemed to scrape at his throat.

"Kuroba-kun, what -think?"

"Do I -a bloody doctor to -?"

"Tha- he meant and you know it! "

"Hanae-Cha- call an ambulance?"

 _Ambulance? Oh, right, ambulance._ Blearily, Izzy somehow managed to look at the faces of his classmates, although both their faces and their voices seemed to come from somewhere far beneath the water (although that couldn't be the case, for he could still somehow feel Kuroba's hand on his shoulder) and they flickered, blurring remorselessly. But he could tell that they all seemed worried, looking at him and each other over and over, wondering what to do. He didn't blame them, not really. After all, how would they know anything about asthma? Even wonderfully snooty and awesome Kuroba- _Sei-Chan_ \- didn't and couldn't know everything. _I don't want to go to hospital again…but I might need to._

The thought entered his spinning head with a cold, hard ring to it, and he tried to communicate this – _yes, call an ambulance, Tada-Chan, I need it_ \- but words were becoming difficult, burdening him more. What remained of his breath rattled in his tight chest and he clutched at his dress shirt tightly, closing his eyes against the pain, still continuing to try and get some air, wheezing and coughing. _Will this end? Will it end? It hurts too…huh?_

All of a sudden, something soft and small pressed another something into his hands, closing his fingers around them. _Somebody…else's hand? And what is this?_ His useless fingers brushed plastic with a texture he recognised almost instantly, and the knowledge suffused him with a sudden relief. Wasting no time, he grabbed at the inhaler properly, and put it to his mouth, puffing at it. Instantly, something cool and soothing worked its way down his throat and towards his lungs, expanding them, soothing them. Allowing him to breathe, finally, _at last_.

Some time went by, and he let that time pass, allowing himself to settle back into the centre of things, to re-root himself in the world. He kept his eyes closed until he was perfectly sure he could breathe again, and until the painful banging in his head quietened into an annoying throbbing. And then, he leaned back slightly, and opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Hana, kneeling in front of him, a hoodie bunched in her hands as she stared anxiously with those wide, wide eyes of hers. It took him a moment to realise that the hoodie was his own one. And then he remembered that he'd taken it off and asked Hana to look after it while he and Kuroba were testing out the parkour potential of their surroundings. She'd been dividing her time between sorting out all her pretty dinky souvenirs and watching Tada tie something oh-so-girly into Tsukuda's hair (something he'd have poked fun at if he hadn't already been perfectly happy entertaining himself). That much he remembered from before his chest had suddenly decided to fold in on itself as he made another landing.

"Izzy, you're okay now?" she asked timidly. Her fists seemed to twist at the material of the hoodie harder, and his brain started to make connections as to where the inhaler that was now in his hand had gone. _How fucking embarrassing._

"Mhm…" he said.

"Well, that's good then." Kuroba appeared in front of him too. "But do you still feel unwell, tired, hungry? Anything like that? We could go back to the inn if you needed to rest up."

"Sei-Chan…." Now that it was mentioned…he did feel rather tired, and his stomach was starting to rumble a fair bit. And since he couldn't bring himself to tease Kuroba's mumsy side, he just nodded gratefully. He looked down at the inhaler in his hand, and recognised from the colour and the label that it was his spare. More composed, he did another search of his waist pouch, and his trouser pockets. And this time, he brought up nothing. Just like the other times.

"That was the only one in here." Hana softly answered the question he'd barely thought of himself when he looked to her. She handed him the hoodie, and he shrugged it on. Then, he cautiously tucked the spare inhaler into his trouser pocket. _Where's the other one then? What happened to it? How did it get out of my pouch?_

"Kitakawa, we're going to go back to the inn." Kuroba proceeded to order Tada brusquely. "I don't care what other things you wanted to go and gawk at, Izzy needs rest and you know it. Plus, if what you said about summering here is true then you're not missing on anything."

"Whether _I'm_ missing on anything is hardly the point." Tada replied levelly (to his credit). "But I don't mind, and I certainly don't think the other- oh, hold up."

Clearly stunned, Tada took out his mobile phone and answered the call he had just received.

"Oh, hey, Kou-kun, what's up?" _Kou-kun? As in, Kou Akabane? As in,_ that _Akabane? Is this just a coincidence?_ Izzy sat up straight all of a sudden, startling the still kneeling Hana, and he tried to listen in. And his curiosity deepened when Tada's face took on a rare, angry expression, and he started to glance over at Izzy.

"Really? Eriko-Chan and the others? You manage to bump into them and not me? ...Jokes aside, are you all okay?" Tada listened for a moment and nodded grimly.

"That's….good I guess. But Kou-kun, Yorimoto-Chan is right you know. You didn't need to go that fa…..Ahh, how typical of you. So, where are you all now then?"

Tada listened and nodded again, with a few sighs in between before he next spoke. All the others stared at him, utterly confused. _What on earth?_

"Right, got that. Nah, no problem, I think we can get there. It's probably best for us to come anyway. Mhmm. Yes, okay. Get Eriko-Chan or one of her group to call Ichijou-sensei as well won't you? See you then."

Tada hung up and tucked the phone back in his pocket. Tsukuda looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He tipped his head at her and she nodded. A silent conversation Izzy couldn't decipher. Then, Tada turned to face Kuroba.

"Actually, I'm going to have to disagree with you, Kuroba-kun. We have one last place we need to go."

 **…**

Tada was not surprised when the teacher who had accompanied Class 3C to Kyoto hurtled into the classroom of Kou's school and instantly honed in on the presence of both his group and Eriko's group. Namely, the 3E students.

"Of course it's _you_! "the man spluttered in sheer annoyance. "Causing trouble wherever you go and involving another school in that trouble as well! I hope that at least you apologised properly. Sir, did they?"

As the 3C teacher turned to Kou's homeroom teacher,-who had been the one who'd been tasked with dealing with the mess of their situation- Tada and Kou exchanged looks. Tada raised an eyebrow at Kou in an I-told-you-so expression. Kou just shrugged heavily before switching his attention to his teacher. After checking that Tsukuda (and the others) weren't overly upset by the outburst, Tada did the same.

"Erm…I'm sorry, I don't think we introduced ourselves. This all happened rather fast."

"Saikawa. Haruhiko Saikawa. Very pleased to make your acquaintance. "

"Jin Otosaka." Kou's teacher didn't return the pleasantries, and instead got straight to the point. "I think you may have misunderstood the events that my students reported to me. From what I understood, it is your class who…perpetuated some of the trouble. "

"Oh no, that can't be right!" Saikawa laughed heavily, as if he'd just been told a cheerful joke over a beer. "Class C students aren't troublemakers or delinquents at all. No offence to you, but I'm sure _you're_ the mistaken one. Or…"

Saikawa circled around carefully, catching the eyes of each and every student in the room who happened to be a member of 3E. Some of them flinched visibly, Hana gazed forlornly at the teacher, Kuroba and Tsukuda bristled and glared in annoyance, and Izzy just blinked as he looked up from the sandwich he was steadily chewing through. Tada just tried to remain calm and not react, and he exchanged another look with Kou, who shrugged again. Naturally, he was not nearly as surprised at Saikawa's words as Yorimoto and Matsunaga were.

"Or." Saikawa said eventually. " It's very likely that the 3E students lied to you before I could get here and set you straight. It's a shame that they would have marred our school like that, but I can assure you tha-"

"Now, I have no prior knowledge or connections with Kunugigaoka Junior High School, so while I am sure you're an outstanding school, I have no personal opinions on the students who attend there, because I don't know them .So I wouldn't know which students are likely to cause chaos and lie to get away from the consequences, and logically it would make sense for you to know that. However, if you're suggesting that it is these students-"

Otosaka broke off to calmly gesture at the 3E students, and although he still looked calm and composed, a glint appeared in his dark eyes, something which made Kou lean forward and grin. After a beat of silence, Otosaka continued.

"If you are suggesting that these students are lying, then you are also implying that my students are liars, too. And as they are my students, and I know them, I am able to say that they would not lie to me about things like the stealing of medical supplies, vandalism, intimidation and potential sexual harassment."

Otosaka stopped there, but what he didn't say rang very clearly in the minds of everyone, and Tada could see that Saikawa was very much taken aback. _Hah! What do you make of that?_

"Well…well….." Saikawa stuttered and stammered, for he couldn't very well make any more accusations of lying.

"Saikawa-san, surely what class they're in doesn't make a difference to what happened?" Matsunaga piped up, clearly spurred on by his teacher's smooth speech. "Sure, those boys are in your class, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least tell them off!"

"Why, you…" Saikawa narrowed his eyes at Matsunaga and was clearly ready to say something else when suddenly another female student entered, bringing Ichijou along with her. _At last!_

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Ichijou said, addressing the two other teachers first as the other student slunk away. "I was assisting and accompanying some other members of my class and I couldn't get away as soon as Eriko-san called me. But putting that aside, I'm Rina Ichijou, and I happen to be the class teacher of 3E. What, exactly, happened?"

 _It was definitely Yamada-Chan that she was helping, wasn't it?_ Tada wanted to face palm and grin, but the situation was too tense for that, so he just watched as Otosaka responded swiftly, introducing himself as well as Kou, Yorimoto and Matsunaga, before explaining what had happened. Ichijou blinked as owlishly as usual, but listened carefully and nodded in all the right places as she did so. Then, once Otosaka had finished, the first thing she did was go over to where Izzy was sitting and kneel down in front of him.

"Ah, oh my creaky joints." Ichijou said, wincing briefly before looking Izzy in the eyes. "Are you all right now, Arisato-kun?"

Izzy blinked at her, but still nodded. He had finished his sandwich and was now happily demolishing an _onigiri_ , which interested him more than answering his teacher. But his response seemed enough to reassure her, as she smiled fondly and slowly got herself up again.

"We had his spare one." Hana piped up waveringly. Her expression was drawn tight, and Tada's heart clenched a little, knowing that she felt guilty for not realising that Izzy's inhaler had been there sooner. He gave her a reassuring smile, and Tsukuda patted her shoulder. Ichijou nodded distractedly at Hana's statement, clearly more occupied with her creaky joints. She took a moment, then turned back to Otosaka.

"So, Otosaka-san, you mentioned that some of your instruments got damaged?"

"Ah, it wasn't too bad!" Matsunaga jumped in , hurriedly. "Well, actually, it was in a way, given that the point of us returning to collect them was to replace others but….the problems this time around are more fixable, if that makes sense?"

"Mhm, it does." Ichijou yawned again.

"Matsunaga-kun is correct." Otosaka said. "We won't be asking for payment from the students or the school body itself, as we can take care of it here."

"We're a musically biased school, after all." Kou remarked at this point, earning a carefully raised eyebrow from his teacher, face-palm-type reactions from Yoriko and Matsunaga and a heavy eye roll from Eriko. Tada chuckled quietly, hiding his hand with his mouth, since he'd seen this one coming. The exact phrase was an old favourite bad joke of his, after all. _You silly, Kou-kun._ But at least the mood had lightened a little, for more than a few of them in the room (although not Saikawa or the main campus boys) were now smiling.

"We have a _specialised music program_ at this school." Otosaka corrected empathetically. "But that's not the point. The point is, I think the ones who are in the wrong should be made to see the consequences of their actions today. I myself will be having a particular word with Akabane-kun…"

At this, Otosaka gave Kou another look, to which Kou just grinned. Even if Tada hadn't had the prior knowledge, it would be easy to see that the teacher and student had a good relationship. He wished that he could have the same in his own school. _I used to...but that isn't the point anymore._

"Ah, well, the trouble with that is, we can't really implement any consequences while we're so far away from our own school….." Ichijou hesitantly started.

"This is most certainly true!" Saikawa leaped onto this suggestion happily. "After all, this is the trip of the rest of my class as well as the main campus students. I wouldn't want to spoil it for them."

"Yes, that is true. Nothing too serious happened, and my class are so enjoying themselves, so as a teacher I can't take that away. So!" Ichijou suddenly clapped her hands in an earnest manner. "How about we just deal with this internally when we get back to Tokyo, and in the meantime over here, declare bygones to be bygones?"

"That would certainly be fine with me." Otosaka nodded.

"Well, I suppose…." Saikawa glared at the 3E students. Ichijou appeared to notice, and she started to bustle.

"Well, okay then children, how about we go back to the inn? Your classmates will probably be finished with their own sightseeing soon so you'll all be together soon. How does that sound?"

"Okay then, that's fine." Eriko spoke for them and they all stood up and at various paces began to file out of the classroom. Saikawa could be heard whispering something to his students before they, too, got up.

"Yo, Tadacchi, hold on a moment." At the door, with most of his classmates already in the corridor, Tada turned to face Kou. Tsukuda also stopped and raised a suspicious eyebrow. Tada caught her eye for a moment, and then nodded. Tsukuda gave him a thumbs-up and then carried on walking with the others, the pretty accessories in her hair twinkling.

"What is it, Kou-kun?"

"Just wanted to say, I'll probably be messaging you about the summer. Mum or Dad will probably also call….Chika-san, isn't it?"

"Yeah, we're staying with Aunt Chika….." Tada said, cautiously. "So, what's the general idea?"

"We'll be coming over there."

"But…." Tada thought of last summer. That summer would have been his family's turn to travel, going to stay with Kou and his family. At least, that's what had happened if things had been normal. But of course, they hadn't, and instead the entire Akabane clan had come to Tokyo to rally around, staying with Rio for the duration of the visit. _And now they're coming again. Surely that isn't fair._

"Tadacchi. _We're coming down to yours this summer_." Kou's brilliant gold eyes narrowed as he placed a hand on his hip, and his tone brooked no argument as he stared his childhood friend down. Tada blinked and his throat closed up. He shook his head a little and rubbed his forehead. Then, he smiled and nodded.

"Cool. Okay, confirm the arrangements later, okay?"

"Sure thing. Tell Hirocchi I said hi, okay?"

"Mhm."

"Akabane-kun! Don't hold up the Kunugigaoka students anymore!" Otosaka called from inside the classroom. "We still have things to talk about!"

"Yes, sensei!" But Kou didn't move straight away, instead he leaned in and whispered one last thing.

"Don't worry; we'll still have your back even when everything is 'internally managed'."

Then, from nowhere, he produced a small burgundy drawstring bag and dangled it from his hand. Although it was old and worn, Tada could read the black writing that told the reader to 'be prepared'. _Oh dear….._

Imagining Kou randomly appearing outside Principal Okikura's office, imaginary devil horns and all, Tada shook his head in amazement. It was far too easy for him to recall the wasabi sauce, nose plugs and ghost peppers that were one of the myriad things that occupied the bag. Kou grinned evilly and winked and disappeared back into the classroom. Tada smiled and shook his head again, and then rushed to catch up with his teacher and his friends.

They were now chatting amongst themselves and filling in the disparate details of the separate parts of the incident they were involved in. It was really quite lucky that nothing worse had happened, but he was sure that once they got back, things probably would get worse. It wasn't as if they'd left Tokyo problem-free, after all. So until they actually reached the building entrance, Tada stayed quiet and listened to his classmates, friends and teacher, just thinking. And then after that little bit of melancholy he allowed himself, he pulled himself out of it, and then dove right into the conversation. _I wonder what everyone else will think of this._


	22. Kyoto Trip, part 4

He almost got discovered, but he backed up and let the forest swallow him up just in time. And from there, as had become his new habit, he watched. But this time, he wasn't watching over the children. Instead, he was watching an old friend walk up the hill and towards the children's flowers, those beautiful flowers he'd borrowed from and just finished replacing. A watering can hung from his hand, and a bag was slung over his shoulder, and it was very clear that he was literally just dropping off from work. _Ah, Isogai-kun._

He watched silently as his old friend went to the water tap and filled the watering can that he'd brought along with him- a bright purple thing with flowers printed all over, no doubt something that belonged to one of Isogai's daughters- and then headed to the first of the flowerbeds, watering it carefully and making sure none of the flowers were damaged. Isogai even pulled off a few deadheads-at least, the ones that could easily be removed without use of clippers or scissors.

Isogai's busy cheerfulness was a familiar sight, a trait that hadn't changed over the years, that hadn't changed since the last time they'd seen each other properly. Well, in a sense. Their last meeting, the last time he'd ventured out, wasn't exactly a happy occasion. _But even so._ There was something vaguely comforting about watching one of the many he still couldn't stop caring about, even from a distance. Still, he waited, tense, for the moment that Isogai would come to the flowerbed which had contained the flowers he'd taken for her, the flowerbed which now had new, different flowers there. Accustomed to finding information quickly, he'd none the less been meticulous when it came to finding out which flowers would be best to replace them.

The moment came quickly. Although at that point, Isogai's back was turned to the area he was hiding in, he could tell by the way his footsteps stopped and his shoulders hunched that he was taken aback instantly. Carefully, Isogai took a step forward, and another step forward until he was right in front of the flowers, and then he carefully set down the purple watering can before getting down on his knees.

A moment or two passed where the only noises around him were those created by the breeze and the lives that were playing out all around them, far off. And then, almost imperceptibly, Isogai's voice said his name, sadly, like a sigh. _Wait, how did you realise so soon that it was me?_ Isogai stood up, slowly, straightening one leg at a time, and then turned around. There was a piece of paper in his hand, and just like that he remembered carefully jotting down the flower meanings of the ones he'd bought in anew, for the benefit of Tsuwabuki in particular. _Laurel for ambition, coral coloured roses to show appreciation, Sweet William to represent a smile, a passion flower as a symbol for belief, celandines for the joys to come, Allspice because compassion is always needed, Magnolias to retain dignity and sage for your self-esteem._ There were others, too, others he'd wanted to plant for them, but those had been plants that took the form of trees, and so he had had to forget those. Naturally, he'd replaced some of the original ones that he'd taken, especially the forget-me-nots, as Haru was attached to those. But the new ones….they had needed explaining, he thought. He couldn't just leave them in the lu-

Isogai said his name again, and then sighed loudly, and sadly, pulling him back out of his thinking. He leaned against the tree he was standing next to, feeling the tree bark through his clothes, and waited for Isogai to speak again.

"I'm guessing you're somewhere over in there, huh? Maybe hiding in a tree or something. Or one of those other places we found all those years ago. Don't panic, I won't come over there and look for you, or drag you out. Just…I guess if you've been here a while you've probably been watching the children. Interesting, aren't they? Especially since it's Hinano-san's boy who's heading the efforts. Funny that, isn't it? Especially considering everything we decided? But…I guess you out of all of us would know about things spiralling way, way out of your control, eh?"

Isogai's hand clenched a little tighter, still somehow keeping the note unrumpled. He took a breath, and then spoke again. He just stood silently, lost in the remembering. _If only things were as easy as we'd assumed._

"I…It's been a long time though, hasn't it? Do you not think….maybe it's okay to come back now? I mean, really come back? All of us are still ready to support you- hell, I think if you did come back, we'd all be jostling in line, trying to offer things to you. And I know that Tada-kun and Hiro-Chan, they're really going to want to meet you, considering. And maybe it's been a long, long time but….I'm sure you'll be able to adapt. I mean….Ah, hell; I don't know what I mean. Possibly I'm talking out of my backside, and you're still not ready for that. I don't even know if you're actually in that forest or if I'm just letting out unnecessary air over here."

 _I'm here._ He wanted to say that, so badly. _I'm here!_ But…he couldn't; so again, he waited to see what Isogai would say.

"But if you are there and you're listening…..just, don't stay in that forest for the whole year, okay? Come over to one of ours….Ikuko's living in her own apartment, but Hoshiko and Satoko are still in school and therefore still living with us, but all three of them would be thrilled if you stayed with us for a little- especially after what you did that time…I can't ever repay you for that, but I can still try to help you as much as I can, even if it doesn't seem…..if…..but maybe having all the foster children around may be a bit too much for you, no? Especially if you've been utterly by yourself since the last time. So maybe you could kip over at Rio-san's? She's away at the moment but…uh…you have the key, right? "

Memories flowed through his mind, of laughter and jokes and conversations around a big large table. Of sitting around the side of a house one rainy, gloomy night, obscured by darkness and holding a rifle in his lap, ready to protect. Of looking up at the window he sat under and occasionally looking into the faces of three tiny girls, the ones he was protecting and the only ones (apart from their parents) who knew he was there in the first place. And then he reached for the chain concealed under his clothes, the one that was strung around his neck and weighed down with all sorts of things. Without looking, he found the key Isogai was referring to, and held it tightly. And he thought of different things. Golden laughter, bright sky eyes, a lazy posture and flaxen hair streaming out across a pillow. The weird mixings of long standing connections, lost desires, loyalties, regrets and embarrassment. Guilt, just more guilt to add to the long list of guilts he had. He wondered how much Isogai knew, about Rio and him, about the last time he'd stayed with her after…that event…and how he even had the key in the first place. He could not forgive himself for that, and he did regret it but… _Ah, I don't know._ He sighed, in the silent way to which he'd been accustomed.

He wondered what Isogai would do if he did come out of the darkness. It would only take a few steps for him to be visible to his old friend. Just a few steps. But of course, he didn't do it. Instead, he gazed as Isogai looked at his note, reverentially…and then folded it and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Then, he turned and picked up the watering can, and went to finish the job he'd come up for. Hidden in the forest shadows, he just berated himself again, for his never-ending stupidity.

"Well, I'd better finish this and get going for now. " Isogai said, fake-chirpy as he finished up. "I-we, even- hope you'll keep yourself safe, whatever happens. And that maybe you'll come back. Who knows, maybe seeing the children this year might help you with that? But, goodbye for now, okay?"

Deliberately not saying a word about the note he folded, as Isogai hoisted the purple watering can, he turned and lifted his hand up in the direction of where he was, a sort of half-wave, before heading back down again. Given his location, it didn't take long for Isogai to disappear from view, but he kept staring in that direction.

" _Please…please teach me how to disappear. " I said those words. I said them, all those years ago. And now, I have too much blood on my hands. So I can't come back, not in the way you all wish. But….I will still keep watch over these children, Tada and all. I can do that much, from here. They won't come to harm while I am still here. I think I still have the weight to make those types of promises, at least._

And, while thinking on that (and ignoring any voices that reminded him of his one lapse of unfaithfulness), he found himself lifting his hand to wave back. Even though the person he was aiming that was long gone.

Even though they wouldn't have seen him, even if they were still there.

 **…**

Hiro turned from one side to another, watching her newly made skirt swish and watching her reflection doing the exact same thing. In a way, she was glad to be staying at the hotel, where they were allowed to wear their own clothes for the evening- she'd been looking for an excuse to show off this outfit, as it were, and now she had it. Grinning to herself, she then switched her attention from the skirt and turned to her hair, pursing her lips as she contemplated, and then reached for the ribbon that she'd looped through her bracelet to keep it safe, then grabbed a tiny section of hair, and tied the ribbon into it before letting it go again. _There, perfect._

Next, she switched on her hearing aids before loping over to the hotel bedroom's pretty bed, honing in on the piles of items she had on there- magazines, sweets, ornaments, funny trinkets, stationary, some hair things. Some for her brother and the other 3E boys, some for the 3E girls-many of whom she thought of as friends in a sense- and then there was the bottle of soap bubble liquid and the tiny cherry blossom tree ornament for Saito. Listening out (but mainly 'feeling' out )for the footsteps of those from her group and class, she quickly wrapped these things up in a sheet of the newspaper she'd nabbed at the station when they'd gotten off the train, and worked up her courage for her imminent escapade.

" _Well, not all confessions need to be secret meetings in school courtyards with rose-scented love letters, you know?"_

 _Through her computer screen, Hiro watched Rio lean back in her chair, nonchalant with her half shrug and 'so what' expression as she said this. She nodded seriously at this._

" _Yeah, I guess. I don't think he's a love letter kind of boy anyway….but….I can't think of anything else. I don't even know if I should be confessing."_

" _Woah, woah, woah. Hold up, Hiro my girl." Rio sat up, suddenly serious, although a smile still tugged at her features. "What's this about not knowing IF you should be confessing? You like him, right, this Saito boy? "_

" _Y-yeah." Hiro blushed. "Yeah."_

" _And you already get on, right? So it's not like you'll be approaching some guy that doesn't even know your existence, which, trust me, is about a million times worse." Rio pulled a face which made Hiro giggle._

" _And, he's kind to you, isn't he? He isn't an asshole, right?"_

" _Aunt Rio, you know all of this. " Hiro sighed. Rio was always attempting to trick her and Tada (but mostly her) into telling and retelling everything about their lives. Usually to tease them with later. But always, when they most needed it, she would be there- and that was how it was now, as Hiro agonised over whether now was the right time to confess to Yukiyama._

" _Yeah, yeah, just checking. " Rio said, somehow managing to sound like a petulant teenager despite being…well, far removed from adolescence. "Just one last thing- will you be stealing away someone else's dreams if you did reveal all?"_

" _Aunt Rio, don't put it li-eh?" Rio's words sunk into Hiro's mind and she stopped, confused. What sort of question was that? "Could you repeat that again?"_

 _Rio obliged, and Hiro carefully read her lips. Sure enough, the words were the same._

" _I don't understand." Hiro said. Rio nodded, slowly. Her cheerfulness had slipped away, and now she looked contemplative._

" _Yeah, I guess not. "her expression turned inwards. "How do I put this…..?" a silence reigned, and Hiro could tell that Rio's mind was somewhere that was most certainly not the present. She was definitely not thinking about teasing/counselling her surrogate 'niece'. Instead she was thinking of…well, whatever it was, it was bittersweet at best and tragic at worst._

" _Well. Is there anyone else that you know of who might have the same feelings that you do, towards Saito?"_

 _Hiro blinked again, half starting to get it, but knowing that she really didn't. She shook her head, warily._

" _No, I don't think so. Not that I know of. Why?"_

" _Ah, nothing, really." Rio shook her head, letting her hair fan around her head before tidying it up with a casual sweep of her hand. "Ah, what I am saying? I can't expect you to account for everybody's feelings. But whatever! Just go for it, okay, kid? Stop worrying and just confess all. At least then it's all out and you know where you stand. So do it as soon as possible! Maybe next week?"_

" _We have the Kyoto trip next week, Aunt Rio? Remember? " Hiro put aside her utter confusion to remind Rio of this, chuckling wryly._

 _Now it was Rio's turn to look baffled for a moment before comprehension dawned and she slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand._

" _Oh! Yes, shit, duh! How could I forget? So, so, what parts are you going to visit? Who'll be with you? Are you going to drop on and surprise Karma?"_

 _Hiro laughed again, and proceeded to tell Rio everything that was planned for the upcoming trip._

Back in the present, Hiro finished up with her 'goodie packs' and then made sure she had her key card and phone, before gathering everything together, slipping on the shoes lazily lounging by the bed, and then pitter-pattered to the door and looked through the peephole. She also adjusted her hearing aids to make sure they were on and that she could properly hear. Then, once she was utterly sure nobody was coming, she quietly opened the door and slipped out.

 **…**

"Kyaaa!"

Tsuwabuki jumped nearly three feet when Hiro popped her head around the door to the room where the table tennis was and uttered a hesitant 'Hello?', something which struck her as so funny that all she could do for the next few seconds was laugh and laugh.

"Hey, Hiro-san, didn't expect to see you here." Jori was the next one to react once Hiro had stopped laughing, leaving Kaori to steady Fuyumi as she wobbled away across the other end of the room.

"I was banking on that." Hiro quipped wryly as she stepped into the room. She turned to the unfairly-startled Tsuwabuki. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Tsuwabuki nodded as he bent to pick up his bat, which he had dropped. Hirigi and Kinomoto carried on playing the table tennis game-although both did half turn to watch what would occur next- but Haru put down her bat and scooted over to

"So? " Jori pressed. "Care to explain what you're doing here?" hand on her hip, eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

"Admittedly, I'm a bit curious too." Haru tucked a strand of her blond hair behind her ear. "Won't they miss you, back at the hotel?"

Hiro shrugged at that. "I guess. But nobody noticed me go. And there's a long while before we're all expected to go for dinner. Tha-"

"You have guts!" Hirigi exclaimed, cutting her short. Hiro raised an eyebrow at the interruption, but was not unduly bothered, so she continued on, seamlessly.

"That, and since we're left to our own devices there isn't any _rule_ against this…..anyway, the real reason I'm here…" _One of them, actually._ Hiro set down her bag and then took out the two loosely wrapped bundles. Since some of the things were coming loose, she knelt down on the floor and tried to reorganise them. Haru knelt down to help.

"Are these for us?"

"Mhm. "It didn't take long for Hiro to gather everything up, and she tucked a bundle under each arm as she got up again. Jori, Kinomoto, Haru, Hirigi and Tsuwabuki clustered around her. At the other end of the room, Fuyumi expressed her curiosity, and Kaori helped her back to the wheelchair so they, too, could come and see what Hiro had brought with her.

"Our hotel, they provide a lot of freebies and stuff in each room, especially when there's this big group booking for a particular type of group- such as our class, and then for some of our places, we got extra things because….well…." Hiro grimaced at her privilege, but carried on regardless. "So anyway, I decided to share the love with you guys, so I made up these packages. One for Tada and the boys, one for the girls. "

"Why's the arrangement like that?" Jori demanded.

"You're all in two big rooms according to that categorisation, no?"

Hirigi snickered at Jori's nonplussed reaction. Fuyumi and Kaori just chuckled, while Jori scowled at all three of them. At that moment, three others burst into the room- Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko.

"Hiro!" As soon as Tada spotted her he broke away from his fellow class reps and went to her side.

"She brought goodies!" Haru effused. Tada looked at the parcels still in her arms. Hiro nodded, and then related the same explanation that she'd given moments ago. Then, she gave the boys' parcel to Tada, who unwrapped the paper slightly and whistled through his teeth.

"Well, this is a haul!"

"I know, right?" Hiro grinned.

"This is quite nice of you to do. " Eriko said, studying the contents of the boys' parcel. Hiro nodded, and handed over the girls' one to Eriko, along with a wry warning to not let Ruko hog all the sweets.

"We can but try." Eriko said, one side of her mouth tugging into a grin, although she was as stoic as always.

"Surely you must have wanted to keep some for yourself. " Tsukuda asked . Hiro noticed that although her hair was undone and loose around her form, there was an elaborate hairpin in her hair, holding back her bangs. Hiro raised an eyebrow, and pointed at it. Tsukuda gave her a questioning look, and then touched the hairpin.

"Oh, I forgot about that!" Tsukuda grinned, unembarrassed, and pulled it out. "It's pretty, right? I bought it at the museum we went to-oh, and hey, it matches the bottom edge of your skirt!" Tsukuda held out the pin near to the skirt for a moment, as if to prove her point.

"Oh, wow, I just noticed! That part of your skirt, and the panels on your t-shirt- are they made from kimono silk?"

"Ah, speaking of that, Hiro, you'll never guess what? We happened to bump into Kou-kun today!"

As Hirigi and Tada had spoken almost in unison, their words jumbled and she didn't get much of what they had said. She held out her hand, the universal give-me-a-moment gesture. Then, she took a good moment to slowly unravel what they'd said.

"Right, to answer Hirigi-kun's question- yes, this is kimono silk. It was an old one that belonged to Mama." She explained, holding the hem of the skirt out, in a manner akin to how she would hold it if curtseying. It also had the effect of showing off the skirt, which made her less sad when talking about her mother.

"Wow, that's actually quite cool! So, did you…." Hirigi trailed off and shut up, slightly embarrassed. It sounded almost as if he was about to ask her about her method of combining different materials, but had then changed his mind for whatever reason. Hiro raised an eyebrow, but decided to just concentrate on Tada's revelation.

"You said you saw Kou?"

"Yeah." Tada nodded. "Actually, it was Eriko-Chan and her group who met him first, because they were trying to break up a fight between him and some main campus students."

"It was a miracle we actually managed to. Even after I restrained him he kept trying to provoke them. Admittedly once I'd found out what had caused the fight I was inclined to agree with them….but…just, ARGH!"

Eriko's pained expression told Hiro that clearly, Eriko hadn't been able to handle Kou's more eccentric aspects. She wouldn't be surprised if Kou had decided to instantly address her as 'Eri-Chan' or something slightly more ridiculous, never mind the fact he only knew the names and faces of the rest of 3E thanks to both the blog and Tada's own personal updates.

"He kept calling me 'Kino-pon'." Kinomoto added, almost randomly. "Which was weird until we found out he was friendly with you two. Then…it made a little sense, but not that much."

"Well of course not! He decided I was 'Daichuu'! _Daichuu!_ What is that, even? A sneeze?!"

Tsuwabuki sounded so aggrieved that everyone in the room started laughing. After a moment, even Tsuwabuki joined in with the laughter, seeing the humour. Hiro could not help but think that Kou would have thoroughly enjoyed the reactions that he had caused here. Another part of her wondered if Kou had given Yukiyama an oddball nickname, or rather, she wondered what the nickname was. After all, this was _Kou_ in question at this moment.

"He calls us Tadacchi and Hirocchi, so I wouldn't worry about that. It's just a Kou-kun thing." Tada explained once they'd all calmed down.

"Yup." Hiro agreed. "So then, tell me about what actually happened. I want to know." _I also want to see Saito, quickly, and get things out there, but I can wait. I hope._ All the same, she looked around her discreetly in the hopes that he would appear, all while Tada and the others (save for Fuyumi and Jori, who hadn't been in either of the trip groups involved) filled her in on the escapades of the day from the fight that Kou had been in, the fact that they had a concert club rehearsal, Izzy's asthma attack, the discovery that his main inhaler had been stolen by the same main campus boys Kou had fought with (indeed, he had overheard them boast about it to each other as though it was nothing, hence the reason for some of his anger). And then, finally, the showdown in Kou's classroom, between Saikawa and Otosaka, and then eventually Ichijou, too.

"It remains to be seen how much trouble we'll actually get in." Eriko sighed as a way of conclusion.

"We shouldn't, really, though." Hirigi added.

"No, you shouldn't." Hiro backed him up wistfully, knowing full well that she was probably a minority in thinking like that, given the status she'd been squeezed into. _Perhaps Tada is more right about things than I am._

"Well duh, of course you guys shouldn't! It's those guys that should get in trouble!" Jori spat out. "Anything else is just wrong."

"We know that, the others involved know that, the rest of the REAL FREAKING WORLD know that. But Kunugigaoka doesn't, unfortunately. "Tsukuda said caustically. Hiro made a mental note to herself to go forward to defend the characters of her brother and his classmates if need be. At the same time, her eyes flickered back towards the door. Yukiyama was not there, naturally.

"Well, at least you didn't get into trouble right at this moment, eh?" Fuyumi said placidly.

"Mhm." Kaori agreed.

"I don't think we should worry about it too much until we're back home." Kinomoto said. "It already monopolised our trip a fair bit, so we shouldn't let it spoil it anymore. In any case, the fact we're all right for now is what actually matters."

"Yeah, that's right." The others nodded along with Tada. Hiro was about to say something supportive when she half sensed and half heard the flap-hit-thud of slippers hitting the wooden floor in the way of walking, heading towards the room they were all in. Again hoping, she turned towards the sensation and finally, finally, when her heart leapt it stayed in the air, because Yukiyama had come, at last.

 _Well, at least that saves me having to wander around this place searching._ Hiro thought to herself in an effort to bring down the brightness levels of her blush. Which, if the waggle-eyebrow look that Tada was giving her was anything to go by, was very bright at the moment.

"I thought I'd heard your voice in the last few moments." Yukiyama stated shortly, not sounding even slightly surprised. Hiro raised an eyebrow at him, going for casual, while surreptitiously checking to make sure she still had the soap bubble bottle and the cherry tree ornament in her bag. She broke away from the group and approached him.

"I snuck in. "she informed him. He gave her an odd look, clearly confused.

"Why?"

"For the fun of it, of course." She said chirpily. Yukiyama rolled his eyes.

"Of course." He sighed, shaking his head in almost-mock resignation. "Of course."

They stood there, near the door, for a moment, not really doing or saying anything. Hiro was all too aware of the others in the room.

"So….walk and talk? Just around the inn- I'd hardly expect you to wander around the streets in inn clothes." Hiro clarified, aiming for jokey. Now it was Yukiyama's turn to raise an eyebrow at her, and she giggled.

"I think the end of the corridors near the baths is empty. Everyone else is either in the arcade game room or in their communal sleeping rooms. Not that they're sleeping yet." Fuyumi interjected oh-so-helpfully, face serene, even as she adjusted her own inn night clothes, clearly not happy with the way they creased.

Hiro narrowed her eyes at the wheel-chaired blond girl, who didn't (or pretended not to) notice. Seeing her expression, Tada gave an encouraging nod and a thumbs up, and Tsukuda grinned at her. Mercifully the others had shrugged off the interruption and were back to eagerly chatting about something or other, but all the same Hiro could not make her mind up as to whether to be grateful or just utterly mortified.

"Yeah, we can walk and talk." Yukiyama decided, saving her from having to decide that any time soon, and so she nodded eagerly and practically bounded out of the room. Except naturally, she wanted to walk beside Yukiyama, and not ahead of him.

"I haven't managed to finish the book yet. I read some on the way, and I was reading some in the games room, but I got tired of staying still. And then I heard you, anyway. " He told her after they'd spent a few minutes walking along in silence that was thankfully as comfortable as always. Hiro noticed that he was holding the Edogawa book she'd recently loaned to him, and that her old handmade bookmark was sticking out in the latter half of the book.

"Ah, that's fine. Take your time with it, it's no big deal anyway. How are you finding it?"

Yukiyama considered this. "I like the writing. And I want to continue to the end to see how it all turns out."

"That's a good enough verdict." Hiro told him. Yukiyama looked at her questioningly and she nodded and smiled to confirm. They reached the area that Fuyumi had said would be quiet. And as it happened, it was, which was perfect. _Thanks, Fuyumi._

"So, you went to Gion and the costume museum, right?" Yukiyama asked once they'd gotten to a standstill. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Oh, yeah, I did. It was amazing. All those different types of costumes and clothes and all their different purposes. They're all from- ah, let me show you, I have pictures!" Hiro fumbled in her bag for her phone and looked for the photos.

"See, these are all the ones I too-oh dang it, I pressed the wrong one, that's my cat, please ignore that."

"Your cat is curling up on your bag….?"

"Yeah." Hiro rolled her eyes and grinned at the thought of Kaede, who seemed to like to take over her possessions. "That was when we left the house for the trip. I don't think Kaede wanted me to go. No doubt she's happily invading my bedroom pillow now I'm not there to shoo her off. Anyway, that's the first costume that stood out to me today."

Yukiyama gave her a small smile, and then the two of them bent over her phone as she talked him through the things she'd seen and why she'd liked them, as well as some of the other silly and interesting things her group-mates had done. Then, she talked about the goodies she'd brought along with her for 3E. She was aware she went in a little too deeply with some of her explanations, particularly about particular types of clothes, but if Yukiyama was bored he did not indicate this.

"So, anyway," she finished up, straightening up and digging in her bag. "I got a couple of things for you." _Here goes…._ Hiro's hands did not take long to find the ornament and the soap bubble bottle, and she pulled them out, holding them in front of her with a flourish. She beamed, partially because she was happy to give these to him, and partially to hide her nerves. Because gearing up for a confession was indeed nerve wracking.

"Here you go, for you." She declared. Yukiyama blinked, and looked at her.

"I…uh…you brought things along for me, as in, exclusively?"

"Y-yeah. "

"That's…nice of you. That cherry blossom tree is pretty, it almost looks like a real one. But….I don't understand the bubbles."

"For fun, obviously! Bubbles are fun, especially in the sun!" With the last sentence, Hiro raised the pitch of her voice and waggled the tree ornament, so that it looked like it was talking. Yukiyama gawked at the tree, then face-palmed.

"You just….you ju-I can't even." His shoulders shook, and it took Hiro a good few seconds to realise that Yukiyama was laughing. Properly, actually, uninhibitedly laughing. Not just raising an eyebrow or giving a smile- literally laughing out loud. And it was because of her, because of something she had done. Yukiyama wrapped his arms around himself for a moment to hold himself in while he laughed, and Hiro found herself giggling a little, although she was still holding the two gifts and feeling awkward.

Eventually, they managed to calm down, and Yukiyama straightened. He looked at the two items, his eyes going from the soap bubbles to the cherry blossom ornament and back again. He didn't reach out for them, instead seeming uncertain.

"This…this is kind of you. I mean…you didn't need to go to the trouble just for me-"

"Yes, I did!" It was now or never, Hiro reflected. She had to say something now, because she'd decided that today was the day to do that, and today was gradually slipping away.

"I don't get it."

"I had to get you something, Saito. Because I wanted to, obviously, and because it's you. And I, and I…I…." _Oh for god's sake, just finish the sentence, it shouldn't be that hard!_ Except that it was, harder than she'd thought.

"I've been wanting to …to say this….." she tripped up and over her words, feeling her tongue thicken and her cheeks go red. She couldn't even slap some sense into herself and she just stood there, stuttering and stammering and making a fool of herself, all while Yukiyama stood and watched her, baffled and silent. Eventually, she gave up and went silent, and looked down at her feet (and his). _Maybe I should just give up and bow out while I can._

"Chihiro." Yukiyama placed one of his hands on her head, and she looked back up at him. Although he still looked sombre, and even a little grim, his eyes had a rare warmth to them that reminded her why she had the feelings for him that she had in the first place.

"I think that I know what you're trying to tell me." His voice was not a whispering one, by any means, but all the same it came out hushed. But he was close enough that didn't matter. Hiro waited, holding her breath, somehow knowing that whatever he said next decided so much for her. Naturally, she knew what she wanted-no, needed- him to say, and so she waited, patiently, hopefully.

"I do think I know, so I also know that means you want an answer. The thing is, the answer isn't one I actually know. But here's something else I do know- that I _want_ to know that answer. I want to find that answer for you. Is…is that okay for now?"

He lifted his hand from her head, and then he placed both of them around the gifts that she continued to hold out to him, even as the words sunk into her mind. The look in his eyes turned into a question, and held the same hope she had. _At least, it is a type of hope, right?_ Hiro relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief, and she felt her cheeks cool a little as she let go of the items and let her hands fall back to her sides as Yukiyama held on tighter and brought the gifts closer to himself, studying them.

"Yeah, that's fine, Saito." She said, genuinely relieved, even if the answer was neither what she had been hoping for or expecting. On reflection, Rio had been right about her just going for it. "At least it's all out and I know where I stand. "

"Mhm. I suppose s-hold on." As if realising something, he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you quoting something?"

Hiro gave him a wicked smile. "Ehhh, well….possibly. Possibly."

Yukiyama groaned, and then rolled his eyes.

"You're _awful_ , you know that?" he said, even as he was unable to avoid a smile. "Anyway, I'll walk you back to the entrance, if you're going now?"

Hiro chuckled, and then checked the time.

"Yeah, actually, I think I will go now. Thank you."

 **…**

By some miracle or another, Hiro managed to get back to the hotel and into her room without bumping into anyone at all. She did spy some kids from 3D (or it could have been 3B) busy in the arcade games room, a place which was naturally much shinier and up-to-date than the corresponding room in the inn. But nobody spotted her and wondered where she had gone or what she was doing, so she counted herself lucky. All the same, the subterfuge wiped her out enough that as soon as she was back in her room, she kicked off her shoes haphazardly and starfish-flopped on her back onto the bed, and closed her eyes for a long, long moment. She took a deep, relaxing breath, and smiled to herself.

Unfortunately, there was a buzzing in her ears which indicated the batteries in her hearing aids were playing up, so she couldn't lie there and blissfully think about Yukiyama. So, with a heavy sigh, she got up, hunted out her hearing-aid paraphernalia, and then she sat at the hotel room table and worked on the hearing aids. A dab hand at this sort of thing by now, it didn't take long for her to replace the batteries, and lucky for her, the first try of these new batteries indicated they would work just fine, so she disposed of the old batteries, and put away the things.

Then, she found her mobile and offhandedly checked it, only to see a bunch of messages from her group-mate Etsuko, all sent in quick succession over the past 10 minutes. As she scrolled through those and scanned them, she realised there was a knocking at her door. _Ooops._ Sure enough, a peep through the peephole revealed an exasperated Etsuko in a pretty lemon-yellow sundress and cardigan, staring at her phone.

"Sorry, Etsuko. These were playing up. Had to replace the batteries" She pointed to her hearing aids once she opened the door, quickly explaining herself. Etsuko rolled her pretty eyes.

"Pfft. Okay, whatever. Do you want to come down for dinner now? It's close enough to the time. Aoshima-san, Nao and Mariko-Chan just went down, and Umi-Chan and Ryouka already went down a while ago. Well, they disappeared off somewhere together anyway. "

"Yeah, sure, okay. Let me get my shoes on. Nice dress, by the way."

"Thanks. Your outfit is pretty cool too. Another handmade one?"

"Hand-customised, but yeah. "

Hiro slipped her shoes on, found her purse and slipped her phone and key card into it, and then left the room and set off to dinner with Etsuko.

 **I didn't intend that the mystery POV section at the beginning of the chapter would take so much space, but apparently it did. Oh well. And to clear up confusion, in this storyline of mine, Isogai has three daughters- Ikuko, who is 23, Hoshiko who is 18 and 16-year old Satoko. So that is who Isogai was referring to when he mentioned those names in that section. As a little heads-up, look out for Ikuko! It won't be for a while yet, but she will have her own role beyond a cameo in this story.**

 **Anyway, this was quite fun to write- I think a couple of you said before that you'd like more Hiro/Yukiyama interactions, and so I hope this meets your expectations. I'd been wondering when to put in some sort of confession, and since I'd been planning this particular part of the Kyoto Trip arc for a while, this seemed the best place to put it in. And generally, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Please leave feedback, as always!**


	23. Kyoto Trip, part 5

**Replies to Guest Reviews:**

 **KuroNeko: I wanted to reply to your review personally. But when I did a search on fanfiction to see if you had an account...but about 50 different variations on the name you left came out so I didn't want to get it wrong, hence why my reply is here. Hope you don't mind that! Anyway, the way I'm writing the story, there won't be an official in-story confirmation on who the mysterious person in the forest is until later. So although at this point a lot of people (you included) are getting closer to the truth in some ways, I'll remain evasive on that one. Anyway-yay, I'm very glad you ship Yukiyama and Hiro ^^ and you're right about Kou. He's basically a musically talented, purple haired version of Karma. And thank you generally for the review, it's appreciated!**

 **So anyway, onto the rest of this note: I couldn't resist the idea of replicating the whole boys taking about the girls/ girls talking about the boys thing that the original series had-with a few twists. So that, basically, is what you get here :) I hope you enjoy it.**

"So….what should we do now?"

Koujiro yawned and stretched as he put this question to the rest of them. Hirigi shuffled away so he didn't get hit by his limbs (or worse, his hair), but he didn't say anything. It was a long time before lights-out, and though the events of the day had exhausted him a little, he wasn't tired enough to go to sleep.

"Do we need to do anything?" Kitabayashi muttered irritably from the corner of the room he'd set himself up in, busy scribbling…well, whatever it was he was scribbling.

"Ah, don't be like that, Katsu!" Koujiro said reasonably. Hirigi rolled his eyes. He could have said as much, really. Kitabayashi just made an irritated noise and continued what he was doing.

"We could just talk about the girls." Izzy said from where he was lying down on his side. He had one eye closed and the other open as he regarded them all, a slick smile spreading across his face. Hirigi also had the weird impression that if Izzy was dressed in ancient Roman clothes and on a sofa, he'd be getting ready to eat a meal. _Weirdo._

"After all," Izzy added. "Isn't that what boys do, talk about the girls they're into in their classes or whatever?"

"Surely talking about stuff is what girls themselves do in the first place?" Kinomoto wondered.

"And giggling." Reno put in. "I've noticed girls giggle a lot."

"That they do. It isn't a bad thing though." Hirigi agreed.

"Well, our class's girls don't giggle much….do they?" Tsuwabuki wondered. He looked genuinely confused about the matter, and Hirigi resisted the urge to roll his eyes and say something of a sarcastic nature.

"Oh, they do." Kuroba said, sounding irritated by having to even contemplate it.

"Still, they do pretty well when they need to step up, no?" Kinomoto pointed out.

"Yup." Hirigi agreed. "Eriko-Chan was pretty bad ass today with the 3C jerk-offs. "

"Just as you'd expect from one of our female representatives!" Koujiro proclaimed cheerfully. This time, Hirigi did roll his eyes. He picked up the half empty juice carton he'd abandoned beside him earlier, shook it slightly and listened to the juice slop around, and then started to sip from it again.

"Everyone in this class just does what they can, to the best of their abilities, when needed. That's got nothing to do with our gender." Azama said from where he was sitting in what looked like a meditative position. Except, he was clearly not meditating as he was watching all of them carefully, his grey hair completely shading one of his eyes and making him look rather creepy.

Hirigi nearly choked on his drink as he swivelled around on his butt to gawp at the boy.

"You're making _sense_! That's a first! Is it something in the Kyoto air?"

"Of course," Azama continued on blithely. " That truth does bring up the rather uncomfortable question of whether this just means we are all cogs spinning unwillingly in the great machine. "

"I take that back."

"Somehow, I don't think this is what Izzy-kun meant when he said 'let's talk about the girls'." Tada, who hadn't spoken up until now, smiled wryly as he watched the others, one leg stretched out and the other drawn up, his arm resting on the knee of the drawn up leg, looking contemplative but also happy.

"Hey, I think so too! We should be comparing notes about which of the girls in the class we like, or at least find attractive!" Koujiro said. Hirigi pulled a face. _Really…..?_ All the same, he decided to play along, and to wait and see what happened.

"Which would be none of them…" Kitabayashi said caustically.

"Oh, c'mon! There must be…"

"No." Kitabayashi asserted. Koujiro pouted, but it didn't take long for him to cheer up and for his blue eyes to sparkle again. He shrugged and then turned on the others.

"So, what about the rest of you guys?"

"You can count me out as well." Kuroba (predictably) replied.

"Me, too." Azama said. "I haven't found anyone I wish to tie myself too. That being said, I can speculate."

"…..do you always _have_ to be so complicated?" Tsuwabuki asked.

"Yes."

"WHY WAS THAT REPLY SO SIMPLE THEN?!" Hirigi wanted to know. A few of the other boys fell about laughing.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, the best girl in the class is probably li'l Aoshima-Chan." Izzy said, still reclining.

"Oh?" Tada asked. "How so?"

" _Saaa_ , I don't know." Izzy's face wrinkled for a moment, before smoothing and becoming cheeky again. "Not any romance, so don't get all excited."

"We weren't, don't worry." Reno said. "But, what about you three?"

Reno leaned back, and pointed at Kinomoto, Tsuwabuki, and Hirigi. Hirigi instantly went on the defensive, and narrowed his eyes. Reno didn't seem to react.

"I mean, you three are pretty close to Haru-Chan, right?" Tada put in before Reno could. "That's what you mean, right?"

Reno simply nodded at this. Hirigi stiffened, somehow feeling ashamed. He thought of himself, storming right by a girl in distress and dismissing the situation, of the heavy, heavy knowing that you weren't in the right, and not in relation to something petty, either. That incident wasn't a spilt bowl of soup or an accidentally broken window, or throwing a tantrum as a toddler. It was just…well, whatever it was. Sure, what was done was done, as his grandmother liked to say, and sure, Haru had forgiven him, and they'd become friends of a sort…..but….. _even if I wanted to look at her like that, I wouldn't have the right to._

Still, whether he had rights like that or not, that was not the point. At this moment in time, he much preferred friendship. And so the revelation that other assumptions could have been made grated, more than a tiny bit.

"Oh, what, so simple proximity is a criteria for insta-romance? Are you actually feeble in the head?" Hirigi spat, hoping his defensiveness successfully hid everything else. Reno narrowed his eyes at him, while Tada went for placatory.

"Well no, but it is a kind of start, isn't it? The more you spend time with someone, the more you get to know them and all. "

"That's true, however, I don't think of Ichinose-san like that. She's lovely, and we're flower buddies, but that's all." Kinomoto explained, holding his hands out in an appeasing gesture, inviting them to understand.

"I second that." Tsuwabuki said.

"Flower buddies." Tada chortled. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Is there something wrong with the term?" Kinomoto wondered.

"No, no." Tada reassured, and then he changed the subject. "You know, Hiroto-san once mentioned to me that when it was my mum's class's trip, during the night time in their room, the boys all sort of did what we're doing now, except they actually drew up a list and ranked the girls in the class. "

Hirigi blinked. Somehow, that was the last thing that he would have expected Tada to come up with.

"Are you saying we should do that?" Kinomoto asked confusedly.

Tada shrugged. "Not particularly."

"So what, you just wanted to give us a random snippet or something?"

"To be honest, I really don't know." Tada laughed. Hirigi shook his head in amazement. Their male class representative was a surprising character.

"So, so then, how did they rank them?" Koujiro wanted to know.

"Probably by looks." Kuroba said as if it was completely obvious.

"Well that's a bit crass, isn't it?" Tsuwabuki asked.

"Admittedly, yeah…." Tada said slowly, clearly trying to measure his words out as he said them. "But not always. Like with my mum, Hiroto-san said that they listed her pretty high because she was cute and genuine and kind. Not that crass, I think."

At that, every single boy in the room bored holes in Tada, gawping and a little dumbstruck. Tada just looked back at them and blinked.

"What?"

"Dude…you're talking about your mother." Hirigi said. "Your _mother_."

Tada gave a one shouldered shrug at this.

"Well, yeah. But it's not like they were talking about her body. Now that would be awkward." Tada gave a hesitant laugh, and continued. " That, and….thirty years ago, she wasn't my mother yet, was she? She was just our age, in the next room over; talking with her other friends about whatever it is they were talking about. And this, at least, is something else for me to know about her, something else to hold onto. You know?"

The words seemed unusually mature, and both Reno and Tsuwabuki muttered something to this effect, while the others raised eyebrows and looked at each other, sufficiently baffled. Again, Tada just shrugged at the responses, but almost wistfully this time. It was at that moment that Hirigi remembered that Tada's mother was dead, and he winced. _I'm getting awfully good at putting my foot in things. Not a talent I want._ But luckily, Tada didn't seem to hold any hard feelings, and Koujiro, clearly being more interested in the attractions the boys of the present 3E held, soldered on, distracting them.

"So….hey, Yukiyama-kun, what about you?" Koujiro pressed the boy, who seemed perfectly happy sitting reading some crime novel or other, and definitely not wanting to be involved in the conversation as he scowled at Koujiro from over the top of the pages.

"What?"

"Is there anyone in the class you like? As in, one of the girls? Or at least do you find any of them find attractive? Or do they fit a type you're into? Or anything like that?"

"Woah, calm down, Koujiro-kun!" Tada laughed. Koujiro grinned back at him, while Yukiyama just narrowed his eyes and considered them. Hirigi was fully expecting that Yukiyama would tell them all to fuck off and then just pick his book up and continue where he had left off. Instead, he surprised him by slowly putting the book down, sitting up straighter, and appearing to seriously think about the question. His expression slid to somewhere different from the type of reactions Hirigi was used to seeing Yukiyama display, but it was unreadable all the same.

"I suppose…if I had a type, it would be a small, tiny, sweet type of girl." Yukiyama slowly spoke, each syllable hesitant. "Someone who would clearly need me to help them."

Yukiyama paused. Hirigi noticed Tada had leant forward, as if hooked to his every word and wanting to know what happened yet, but there was also some sort of caution and suspicion in his demeanour. Hirigi wondered what that was about.

"That being said." Yukiyama said eventually. "Types are just theoretical, are they not? What's a type when you are confronted with an actual living, breathing girl who loves you?"

With that, he picked up his book and started reading again, seeming to practically bury himself in the pages. It was clear he was not going to give any explanation. Hirigi sighed. He thought he sort of got what Yukiyama was trying to imply, but in his mind those words were almost as cryptic as Azama's usual utterings. The others seemed a little baffled, too, as nobody said anything for a long, long while, and they just stared at each other, not sure where to go from there.

"I think you have a point there, Yukiyama-san." Reno said eventually. Yukiyama didn't respond to the attempt to redraw him into the discussion. Reno sighed and ran a hand through his light hair. It was hard to tell whether that sigh was reluctance to continue talking or just a general contemplative sigh, but all the same, Reno continued on.

"I mean, I generally prefer stronger, more outgoing girls, but really it's all about the personality. I think I'm more likely to be into a girl if I actually knew them."

"Now _that's_ something I agree with." Tada nodded. Smiling again, he definitely seemed happier, and this relieved Hirigi. _At least I'm not a complete putz._

"Me, too." Kinomoto put in. Tsuwabuki and Koujiro also chimed in with a similar view. Azama also nodded sagely to this, as if this was something he knew all along and had been waiting for them to figure out.

"Certainly, that's a point." Kuroba put in, eventually, almost grudgingly.

"So…basically….your preferred type is the opposite of Reimiya-Chan?" Izzy asked with a yawn, still looking at them with the one-eyed gaze.

"Is there something you want to say to me directly?" Reno inquired, his voice laced with quiet menace as he turned to bore holes into Izzy, who just looked at Reno mildly, as if he hadn't noticed what, exactly was wrong with his statement.

"Izzy-kun, that's Reno-kun's sister you're talking about!" Tada corrected, eyes wide and shocked. Frankly, Hirigi didn't blame him. He found the implication creepy himself, and he didn't have siblings. Well, technically he did, but as far as an everyday life was concerned, he didn't. But that was hardly the point.

"They're _siblings_!" Kuroba snapped out almost at the same time as Tada's protest, giving Izzy a light thwack to the head, causing both of his eyes to fly open and for him to move to a somewhat normal sitting position to balefully regard Kuroba.

"So, what? Oh…right. Oops." Izzy winked and stuck his tongue out at Reno, but didn't make any kind of apology. It struck Hirigi that this action of Izzy's was rather girly, which would have served as an interesting point back when they'd completely missed the point of talking about girls…which had been Izzy's idea in the first place. Hirigi rubbed his head and pulled a face which nobody noticed. _I should probably stop before I tie myself in knots, haha._

After a moment, Izzy returned to his Roman- reclining, one-eyed mode as if nothing had ever happened, and most of the room either sighed or shook their heads.

"Well that was awkward." Koujiro pointed out unhelpfully.

"Mhm." Reno got up and dusted himself up down. "Whatever, I'm going to check in on Miya-Chan now. Just to make sure she's okay."

"…why?" Tsuwabuki asked. It was a fair question.

"Because she's my family." Reno said, as if this was bleedingly obvious.

"Yeah, but dude, she's with all the other girls. What's there to worry about?" Koujiro pointed out.

"Exactly, they all seem pretty friendly with each other." Tada agreed. "Besides, even if they weren't all like that, Protector of the Small wouldn't just let that slide, and you know that."

It took Hirigi a good few moments to remember whom Tada was referring to with that particular nickname.

"Even so, I'll just check. I won't take long. " Reno decided resolutely. "Hirigi-kun, want me to throw that away for you?"

"Huh?" Hirigi looked down at the empty juice carton, which had been in his hands all this time. "Yeah, sure. Thanks, mate."

He threw the carton at Reno, who caught it neatly, and then turned and slid open the room door to leave.

 **…**

Ayako almost jumped out of her skin when Ruko let out a shriek and sat up suddenly to shove an open magazine in her face. She fumbled and dropped her phone, but luckily, it landed in her lap.

"What is it, Ruko-Chan?" she snapped out of shock. "Another even more OTP pair of models than the last one?"

"You used OTP in a grammatically incorrect way but no, that's not it! _Look_!"

Ruko shook the magazine again, more empathetically. It was folded at a particular page, and Ruko was pointing to something. Sighing heavily, Ayako shuffled backwards to get a better look at it. The magazine in question seemed to be a fashion magazine aimed at teenagers, and this page seemed to be advertising boys' winter jackets. The three boys on the page were featured against the backdrop of a train station platform. She couldn't see anything special about it though.

"What is it?"

Ruko groaned and her finger stabbed the page again, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Don't you see it, Aya-Chan? It's like an answer to a mystery! So, haven't you seen it yet?"

"Clearly not, or I wouldn't be so confused, silly." Ayako rolled her eyes. "At least put the magazine down, and let me see it properly. "

Ruko obliged, and put the magazine down, spreading it back out to the double-page spread, before quickly grabbing a new packet of chocolate buttons and scarfing them down. Ayako put her phone to the side and peered at the pictures.

"So, who am I looking at, exactly?" she asked. Ruko pointed to the boy on the right hand side of the train-station/winter jackets picture. His soft, inky-black hair seemed to fall across his face, somehow without obscuring his light brown eyes. He was modelling a waist-length deep red coat with no hood and silver square buttons and was wearing it with dark grey jeans and black boots. He looked off to the side, as if watching for the train to approach or as if he was looking for some answer or other, with a serious expression that seemed- _woah, woah, wait!_

"Kyaa, no way! That's….Ruko-Chan, please tell me what you spotted is what I just think I noticed!" Ayako yelled out.

"If by that you mean, is that Yukiyama-kun, then, yes, I feel fairly sure it is." Ruko grinned. "And there are other pictures in here, too, that I'm pretty sure are him. Other season's clothes but yeah."

"That's just….I can't even…" _Yukiyama-san, a model? Uwahh, mind blown!_ "Hey guys, guys, come look at this!"

Ayako beckoned all the other girls over, and soon they had all formed a circle around the magazine on the floor, poring over all of the pictures that were possibly Yukiyama.

"Well, this certainly explains a lot." Jori said after the requisite oohings and ahhings.

"Why?" Yamada asked, scrutinising the train-station/winter jackets picture. It was impossible to tell what she might have thought of all this.

"Because modelling is a job type, and if he's been doing this, that means he's been breaking school rules, which is why he is in 3E." Haru explained.

"Ohhh." Yamada nodded with exaggerated seriousness, dark eyes wide behind her slightly askew glasses. She adjusted them. "I didn't know you could get put in 3E for a job."

Everybody stared at Yamada.

"Oh, you can, trust me." Eriko said grimly. "Isogai-san got put into 3E thirty years ago for that very reason. Even though in his case, he didn't have a choice."

Ayako raised an eyebrow at Eriko, wondering why, exactly, she was so angry about something which was long over. _If he 'didn't have a choice', it probably means his family was poor or something. I guess that's always a sad thing to hear about, but still…_ Ayako shook her head, to clear it. The things they were all finding out now were much more intriguing.

"It sort of jars with his image though, doesn't it?" Kaori carefully said, returning her friend's attention to the present. "I mean, he's sort of grouchy and closed off and he doesn't really talk to anyone."

"He talks to Tada." Tsukuda disagreed. "Admittedly, that's mostly cos of Hiro, but yeah. And objectively speaking, he does have good looks."

"That is true." Akira said, matter-of-fact as she looked up from her notebook.

"Yes, Yukiyama-san is rather handsome…but sadly, off limits." Fuyumi didn't look even vaguely sad at the statement. Instead, her light brown eyes glittered.

"Off limits?" Reimiya asked. She looked baffled and Ayako didn't blame her. _Tell me more!_

"Yes, off limits!" Tsukuda exclaimed. "I have no idea if they've actually started going out yet, but Hiro is besotted with him. I think she even confessed to him today. "

When Ayako looked back on the information and memories she had about her class, she came to the conclusion that this was probably true. Quickly, she ferreted out her Class 3E files and turned to Yukiyama's page to write down what she'd learnt. Then something occurred to her and she looked back up again.

"Wait up- confessed?" _Stop the press! When did this happen?!_

"Yeah." Fuyumi declared. "She did, when she came earlier in the evening to give us the goodies." Fuyumi pointed to the pile of sweets and other things, the same pile that the magazines they were now gawking over had come from.

"Somehow, that explains everything." Ayako said as Jori muttered something about Fuyumi being a crystal ball. "That's kind of cool, isn't it….like star crossed lovers or something. "

"You mean because one of them in in 3E and the other in 3A?" Tsukuda snorted. "What does that matter? Kunugigaoka can't dictate our love lives."

"You'd hope not." Jori retorted.

"We _will_ hope not." Kaori decided. "Well, regardless, whatever happened between those two today I imagine we can stop thinking of Yukiyama-san as an eligible bachelor, so to speak. "

It was clear from Kaori's voice that she used 'bachelor' as a joke, but all the same Yamada and Haru looked slightly alarmed, and Ayako herself did a double take. Last time she'd checked, she wasn't considering marriage!

"Who else is there though?" Ruko wondered. "I mean, would you consider any of the other boys in our class hot?"

"Why would it matter to _you_ , if they were hot?" Ayako teased. "You'd just want them to get off with each other. "

"And that, dear Aya-Chan, is _exactly_ why I want to know!" Ruko grinned freely and Ayako face palmed.

"Akabane-kun is quite aesthetically pleasing." Hana offered hopefully.

"Hana, Akabane isn't even in our class. Or our year. Or our _school_." Tsukuda corrected. Hana looked at her, wide eyed. Tsukuda sighed and ruffled the smaller girl's hair.

"Never mind."

"Akabane-san is a pain." Eriko stated with conviction. _Akabane…Akabane…..oh, wait, that Akabane!_

"Just to clarify, this is the Akabane-san who was in that fight with the 3C boys that you broke up? The one who is a childhood friend of Tada-kun's?"

"Yep." Eriko, Kaori, Tsukuda and Hana chorused.

"Well, I guess he is…aesthetically pleasing, as Aoshima-san puts it. But he's also rather devilish and unrepentant about everything. And intelligent with it, to boot. Oh, and he likes to relentlessly nickname his peers. You have no idea how _much_ of a relief it is for us that in our cases, he just used the nicknames people generally use for Eri-Chan and I." Kaori continued on. Eriko nodded vigorously at this.

"Still, he's off the list anyway as he isn't one of our class's boys." Jori solidly stated.

"True, but being unrepentant about everything sounds a touch like our Arisato-kun, no?" Haru piped up.

"That _is_ true!" Ayako said eagerly. Well, she didn't have any first-hand experience of Tada's childhood friend, but still.

"Yeah, Izzy is a bit silly." Hana agreed.

"And he's scary….all those weird smiles. Plus, he is with Kuroba-kun like, _all the time_." Ruko shuddered. "Now that boy is….terror incarnate, so together they're even worse. But they're so good together I can't deal with myself!"

As if to illustrate the point her last sentence had made, Ruko did a mock swoon that made most of them laugh.

"Ii-kun isn't scary!" Hana protested through her own laughter.

"I second that!" Tsukuda said. "He's just a squirt to me."

"So, I take it that means neither of you are interested in him?" Ayako asked. "Tsukuda-san, Aoshima-san?"

"Nope." Tsukuda declared.

"Not in a crush-ish sort of sense." Hana followed on after a beat. There was something so earnest about her that Ayako was inclined to believe it. All the same, she scribbled a querying note under her possible OTP list. _After all, you never know._

"You know, it's really quite disconcerting seeing you write everything down, Takashita-san." Kaori commented.

"I'm not writing _everything_." Ayako returned with. "Just the interesting things that I want to know about you all. "

"Which is everything, according to you." Ruko cracked, cackling before scrunching up the chocolate button packets and going in search of what Hiro had referred to as 'Haribos'. When she found them, she ripped open the packet and started eating the squishy sweets as if she hadn't just been streamlining through more sweets than most people ate in a week.

"Touché." Ayako grinned. This was true, she supposed. "So, so, then…..is there anyone in here who has a crush on any of our boys…..at all? "

Nobody answered, which disappointed Ayako. She swivelled around regarding all the girls and then zoned in on Akira, who was alternating between writing in that notebook of hers and quietly talking to Reimiya.

"Yo, Akira-san, what about you?"

"Me?" Akira inquired politely, calmly clueless. "What about me?"

"You, the boys in our class. Anyone you like?" Akira's cheeks pinked up at this, but she didn't seem particularly perturbed as she shook her head firmly.

"Not even Tada-san?" Jori asked. _Kyaa, you beat me to it, Kasai-san!._ Akira's blush deepened and she puffed out her cheeks into an impressive pout, pulling her notebook closer to her as though it was a shield.

"T-that's really silly!" was her only response. Ayako grinned conspiratorially. It wasn't silly, not really, when Akira's character was considered. And the fact that the only people whose company she seemed to welcome instead of just tolerate happened to be Reimiya…and Tada.

"Well, I _was_ kind of wondering about that, Akira-san." Kaori said. "I mean, Tada-san does seem to look out for you."

"Does that mean anything?!" Akira spluttered. Reimiya patted her shoulder consolingly, even as she grinned at her friend's flustered state.

"Ehehe, it could….couldn't it, Akira-san?" Ayako cheekily said.

"Well, yes." Tsukuda deadpanned, effectively shutting off Ayako. "It means he's looking out for you."

 _A simple refutation….but said with such certainty, as if it is the one thing in the world you know for sure. Oho, what does that mean in relation to you, Tsukuda-san?_ Ayako was all geared up to probe when Eriko contributed to the conversation.

"Mhm. Yeah, that is right. " she nodded. "I don't think you should read too much into that, Takashita-san. I think Tada is just naturally that sort of person."

"I can testify to that." Fuyumi asked, making a sweeping gesture with her hands to draw attention to her legs and therefore illustrate the point. "But that, I think, is part of the appeal when it comes to him."

"Certainly. That's why it's good working with him as one of the Class Representatives." Eriko asserted.

At this point, Ruko mumbled something, her sweet-stuffed mouth making the words indecipherable. Ayako thought she'd heard 'Shou-Chan' somewhere in that verbal mess, but she couldn't swear on it. But just in case Ruko had been saying something about her traitorous friend, Ayako looked at her and raised an eyebrow to ask 'are you OK?' Ruko grinned, winked and gave a thumbs up and a 'never mind' gesture before pulling all the magazines closer to her and flicking through them-no doubt for the purposes for gaining more 'material'.

Ayako rolled her eyes to the heavens and turned back to the rest of them.

"Tsukuda-san, do you think the same thing?"

"In relation to which point, exactly?" Tsukuda tucked her hair- released from its usual ponytail for the night- behind her ears and continued right on before Ayako could answer. "Tada is a lot of things, but most importantly, Tada is just Tada. "

Tsukuda's voice was warm and lyrical when she said this, and again there was that strong sense of an earnest conviction- a faith, almost. So whatever she meant, it was certainly a good thing. But the words had Ayako utterly flummoxed, and she didn't know what, exactly, to do with that information.

"How can you tell if you like a boy?"

The unexpected question from Yamada saved Ayako from having to worry herself over that piece of information. But naturally, given her life, the diversion just created more confusion. _Now I'm thinking about it, how_ can _you tell?_

"I think I'll open that question up to the floor." Ayako said. The girls (save for Akira, who was clearly trying to out write her embarrassment), looked at each other, none of them sure how to answer.

"It…surely differs from person to person, doesn't it?" Hana said eventually. "As in, whoever you are, and whoever the boy is, it's different? Because that relationship, or the possibility of it, is as unique as the people involved. "

Hana beseeched them with her eyes, either hoping that someone would agree with her or fearing that someone would viciously refute her. As it happened, there was more of a middle ground as Fuyumi showed with her response.

"That is true, but that doesn't help Yamada-san. So… at the same time, because we are people, and that makes us the same at a certain level, there are some commonalities. Like…well I guess your heart always speeding up when in contact with that person, your thoughts centring all on them, feeling like their presence lightens and brightens your world but it sending you in a tailspin because you want to look good around them, feeling a spark between the two of you…does that sound about right?"

"I guess so." Ayako said.

"It's a start." Ruko said. "It's kind of difficult to quantify into words."

"'She makes my mind quiet and my heart loud.'". Tsukuda quoted. Everybody eyeballed her. She shrugged.

"Tada was reading this book the other day, the Japanese translation of some American crime novel or other…I think that was a line in there."

"I think that sums it up nicely though-theoretically speaking. I wouldn't know." Kaori agreed. "Does that help, Yamada-san?"

The owlish girl nodded extra-seriously. "I think so. It sounds confusing. Can you learn things from liking someone?"

This caused a few splutters of surprise and many exchanged looks. _Now that's a curveball._

"I….don't know how to answer that one." Fuyumi said eventually.

"Neither do I. "Jori agreed.

"Yeah, that is a genuine stumper." Eriko also agreed. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Yamada said, even though there was an almost indiscernible trace of disappointment on her face.

"I don't think it's important though." All attention now turned to Reimiya's unexpected opinion. _Huh?_

"How so?" Haru asked, tilting her head. Reimiya frowned and considered this as she pulled the extra blankets she'd been given more closely around her.

"Well, I don't consider it that important, but that's because I think we're too young to be dating and stuff like that. So I can't really say if I like a boy-or even a girl- or not because that's not what I want to focus on right now."

"But all of this was just theoretical. Joking, even." Tsukuda pointed out. "Did it scare you or something? If it did we didn't mean it."

"Oh no no no." Reimiya was quick to reassure them. "That's fine. I mean, we're all different, right? So while I wouldn't exactly recommend it if you asked, if you decided that you liked someone and wanted to date them then I would be happy with that and supportive. Just, I wouldn't want to do that myself, not yet. And I don't want to feel like I should be."

A beat of stunned silence followed.

"Well, that can't be argued with!" Jori declared eventually, just as it threatened to spill into awkward. "I say we salute the girl! Good on you, Reimiya-san!"

The others all chimed in with this, and Reimiya blushed, pleased and surprised. She snuggled into her blankets and smiled at them all. At the same time, Tsukuda flopped down on her back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Okay, I think we've had our fill of boy-talk. Hana, sing for us."

"Eh? W-why?" Hana looked down at the other girl, slightly startled.

"I could sing." Fuyumi helpfully offered. Jori reached over and instantly covered the blond girl's mouth with her hand.

"NO." She said empathetically, narrowing her eyes at Fuyumi's muffled protests. _I can understand that,_ Ayako thought, wincing at the memory of Fuyumi's singing on the train.

"Okay then." Hana sat up a little straighter and looked at all of them searchingly. "I'll sing."

And then, she started, and the room fell quiet.

"Hikari hitotsu mo todokanai tsumetaku natta kono heya de  
Saigo ni natta yurikago wo yurashimashou  
Kanojo wa kare ni egao to mushou no ai wo sasagemashita  
sayonara no sono toki mo kou iimashita

'Nakanaide watashi wa kitto  
Anata ni kousaretai to nozonda no  
Kuyamanai de sugu ni aeru kara  
Nee, mou  
Daijoubu anata wa kitto  
Kurutte nanka nai to omou no  
Sukoshi dake unreal tada sore dake'

Kare wa kanojo no inochi wo  
jibun no te de owarasemashita  
Futari ni totte nani yori mo daiji na hi deshita  
tetsugoushi ni kako mare shin deru me de iki o shite  
nan zen kai yuru sareta ato mo kou ii mashita

'kono te wa chi de fuyake te  
moto niwa mou modora nai keredo  
kuyama nai yo sugu ni aeru kara  
nee, demo  
omoi dashi te naku yori zutto  
omoi dase nai koto ni obieru  
mayoi wa nai koukai mo nai  
sukoshi dake kowai kedo...'

kare wa ima saigo no toki  
furueru shinshin to hiki kae ni  
omoi dashi masu kanojo no kotoba o  
ima, ima

'naka nai de watashi wa kitto  
anata ni kousare tai to nozonda no  
kuyamanai de sugu ni aeru kara  
nee, mou  
daijoubu anata wa kitto  
kurutte nanka nai to omou no'

shukufuku no kane ga nari ashimoto ga karuku nari  
ima ai ni iku  
ima ai ni iku…"

A hush fell down over the room as Hana finished the song, and more than a few of them blinked rapidly, as if they'd just woken up and hadn't fully assimilated that fact yet. Ayako found that her eyes were misty and she rapidly (but discreetly, naturally) wiped at them with the sleeve of her night clothes. Hana, for her part, looked around at them searchingly and a little timidly.

Then, the sound of the door sliding open jerked them all out of it. When Reno appeared in the doorway they all startled and shrieked. He gave them an odd look.

"What was that for?"

"Why are you here?!" Jori demanded furiously. "This is the girls' room!"

Reno rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his head in exasperation.

"I know _that_. I'm not coming in!" Sure enough, he was firmly in the doorway. "I'm just checking in. Miya-Chan, is everything okay?"

Reimiya, who was still sitting up with blankets all around her, nodded and smiled.

"I'm fine, Reno."

"You sure? You all look a little dazed. And are you cold? Do you need another blanket?"

"Ah, for crying out loud." Ruko muttered.

"We're fine, I promise." Reimiya said patiently, expression affectionate as she stared at Reno. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. But he didn't move. A few moments passed where he regarded Reimiya and the others, while they all stared back at him. _Uhh…._

" .We're _fine_. I'm fine." Reimiya repeated. She shrugged aside her blankets and got up and crossed the room to reach Reno.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." She emphasised, shoving gently at him. When he stumbled and made a comic noise of surprise, Reimiya giggled and shoved at him a little more, pushing him further out of the room, and he tried to tickle her in return. Ayako stared, then exchanged a look with Ruko, Nodding, the two of them got up and also launched themselves at Reno.

"It's three against one!" Ruko declared.

"Yeah!" Ayako laughed. "You have to give up and surrender!"

"Surrender, surrender!" Reimiya echoed, in stitches. Eventually, when all four of them were laughing so hard they could barely stand, Reno did indeed surrender, and after bidding them all goodnight, he didn't try to go back on that, and retreated back to the boys' room. Reimiya scooted back inside to get back under her blankets, and Ayako slid the door shut again. Then, she sat down next to Ruko and helped her tidy up the magazines. Around them, the other girls roughly divided themselves into small groups as they began to chat amongst themselves about various things, until Fuyumi piped up with a suggestion.

"So," she asked them all. "Does anyone want to hear a good ghost story?"

 **…**

As Tada quietly padded down the corridor on his way back from the bathroom, he noticed a small figure looking out into the night, illuminated by the moon, Or rather, someone using the moon as illumination, as said person was Akira, and as usual, she was scribbling in her notebook.

"Yo, Akira-Chan." Tada said quietly, going to join her. "What's keeping you up?"

Akira closed her notebook and regarded him suspiciously.

"I…I didn't like Yukimura-san's story." She said eventually.

"Eh?"

"Yukimura-san's ghost story." As if that clarified things. Tada sighed deeply.

"Not a good story, then?"

"Not as such…." Akira shook her head stubbornly, making her hair fly around everywhere. Tada wondered why it was girls were more likely to let their hair down when going to sleep. Wasn't it better to tie it?

"No, not that. It was too good, that was the problem. "Akira clarified. "Anyway, since it's not good to just lie there if you can't sleep, I decided to write instead."

"Ah." Tada nodded, and chose not to call Akira out on her obvious jitters regarding the ghost story. He looked up at the sharpness of the moon in the clear night sky. "Pretty, isn't it?"

"Mhm."

They stood in silence for a while, both of them looking up at the moon.

"Fuyumi-Chan's antics aside, did you have fun? On this trip, I mean?" he asked eventually.

"Mhm. Yeah, I did. And you?"

Tada thought about it. There had certainly been a lot of chaos, especially what with Izzy's missing inhaler and Kou appearing on the scene. But all the same, he had thoroughly enjoyed his time with Tsukuda and the others on this trip. He voiced this to Akira, who nodded seriously.

"It feels sort of weird that it's all over so quickly….." he added to this. Akira, who had returned to her writing, looked up at this and gave him a look.

"The trip might be over, but haven't we got the rest of the year stretching out in front of us?"

Tada was about to respond when he realised she was right. There was still the rest of the year to anticipate and dread in equal measure. And of course, they all had an important project to see through the year. _We have to keep on trying to make our 3E the last one. We only have the year to do it, after all._

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well then. "Tada cleared his throat and then yawned. "I'll leave you to your writing then. "

He reached to ruffle her hair, and although she squawked in protest she allowed it, and as soon as he stepped away she picked up where she had left off, making him chuckle to himself. Then, he headed back to his room, found his futon, and went back to sleep.

And he dreamed of the rest of the year, and the rest of the possibilities.

 **The song Hana sings in this chapter is the Vocaloid song 'GALLOWS BELL'. However, it is not the original version I had in mind, but the one where F9 is the vocalist...I think the arranger is Nem, but I don't know. Anyway, F9's voice is sort of what I imagine when I try to picture Hana's singing, and that particular arrange of the song is better than the original anyway. And the novel Tsukuda quoted Tada quoting from (lol, what a sentence) is 'Mockingbird Songs' by R.J. Ellory. I really admire the way R. can describe the small details and the bigger events of a character's life and really make you understand not just that yes, they are ordinary people, but that they all have their own lives and are still significant anyway. I try to emulate that in my writing here, and I'm hoping that'll pay off one day. Anyway, I really like R.J Ellory's work is the point I was trying to make, lol.**

 **So, this brings the Kyoto Trip arc to a close! I hope you enjoyed it, and that you're all ready to move onto whatever will happen to this particular 3E next! Please leave feedback, as always!**


	24. Flowers

**I'm so tired...I had a long day at work yesterday, and studying for the January exams just seems to be something I can't fire myself up to do. On the other hand, I keep having sparks of writing inspiration, so here's the next chapter! I do hope you enjoy it, as always!**

A Saturday morning, and he was spending it in Principal Okikura's office, along with all the members of the group he had been with in the Kyoto trip, as well as all the members of Eriko's group. As well as the five boys from Class 3C, the ones who were the most culpable. Although there were clear opposing sides, all the teenagers in the room were united over one sentiment- _why the hell did we need to come in on a Saturday when most of this was resolved anyway?!_

Of course, Tada didn't say anything, and neither did anyone else, and they all waited as Okikura surveyed them all. Moments and moments passed as they waited, each with various amounts of fear in them. And then Okikura spoke.

"It's a shame that disrepute was potentially brought upon Kunugigaoka just because of a fight. And very surprising, too. Especially since I believe it was you, from 3E, who helped to break things up?"

Eriko nodded once, stoutly. Okikura contemplated this, stroking his imaginary beard. He turned his attention to the 3C students, all of whom squirmed, not looking nearly so belligerent now they had possible consequences.

"Now, in a situation like this, I would need to mete out some form of severe punishment…." The look he gave them left no doubt in anybody's minds as to what that punishment would be. Particularly as twelve of the students in the room were living out that punishment for lesser deeds.

"And certainly, I don't want you to think that Kunugigaoka will let such misbehaviour go. However…." Okikura cleared his throat and adjusted his computer screen and started to read from it. "' Although the incident in question is one that did distress our students and damage school property, we have decided not to press any civil or criminal charges, and we would prefer you show some leniency to your students . However, as one of the students from my school has a prior relationship with one of your own students, they are concerned that sanctions will be carried out against the students who are not actually responsible…..'…..now, Kitakawa-kun, I understand that you are the one who knows one of the students from Asahikara High School, Kyoto?"

"Yes, sir. I've known Kou Akabane-kun since the age of 7 years old. "Tada opted for this simple and formal explanation, figuring that being precise would earn some sort of points. Not that he knew how that would help. Okikura nodded seriously as he stared them down, before returning to the computer screen.

"Now, let me see, what are the other highlights of this…hmhm…." Okikura seemed happy to have them all hanging while he pretended to read the email for the first time. But eventually, he 'found' what he was looking for.

"'Therefore, I would like it made known to you that if I hear that unjust measures are taken against the students listed above, particularly those who were in Eriko Fujisaki-san's party, then as a teacher, I will have no other choice but to call you out on it and make sure that others in the field of education are informed about this aspect of Kunugigaoka, and not just the successes you may hold.'"

The words were given plenty of time- and then some- to sink in. The main campus boys clustered off to one side and further deepened the chasm between them and the 3E students. Hana moved herself closer to a tense Tsukuda, all while casting glances at Izzy, who looked like he was ready to gobble Okikura up and then saunter off whistling. Eriko subtly moved herself so she was standing in front of Kaori and the others who had been in her group. As the silence stretched, Tada noticed her close her eyes and mouth something to herself. A prayer of sorts, maybe. He could not tell.

"Principal Okikura." Eriko eventually stated. "Respectfully, I request that you tell us what will be occurring next."

Okikura nodded heartily and beamed.

"Why of course, 3E Representative, of course. First, Itou-kun and the other 3C boys?"

A main campus boy with slightly bug-like pale blue eyes stepped forward, and the other boys followed his lead. The pierced-eared boy threw a contemptuous glance at Tada and the others, which was noticed but not commented on.

"A prank may be a prank, but, as asthma can be life threatening, stealing an inhaler goes beyond that and has serious consequences. Given the testimony of the events in Kyoto I am sure you understand that now. But to press home the point, all five of you are on warnings for an unforeseen period of time, and I will be having the Student Council's deputy keep an eye on you. If you do something which could endanger a life, the incident will be brought straight to me and then you will face the possibility of expulsion. Understood?"

"Yes, Principal Okikura." Itou said for all of them. Tsukuda flicked Tada a triumphant look, and he knew exactly what it meant. Nobody could fare well with Otsuka breathing down their necks. Or even just generally being near them.

"Now, 3E. Admittedly, in some of this, you were victims and that is appreciated. " _Appreciated?! Hah!_ "Even so, you got into a potentially violent fight in a public place, and some of you even caused a disturbance at a café. That is not how we expect members of society to behave, even those who are not yet of age. Therefore, starting from Mondays and continuing to the end of this term, you will be put on cleaning duty for all of the homerooms on the main campus, and will still be expected to clean your own. You will also be required to clean any club rooms that may be in use on those days save for the assembly hall, the dance studios, the recording studio, the swimming pool and any of the sports pitches. You may decide how you allocate the responsibilities amongst yourselves and the rest of the class. Understood?"

 _Oh yes, we understand. We understand that really, the ones who did something wrong get away with it. We understand that all of this was lip service._ But with that being said, Tada knew that really, things could have been worse. And the reason they weren't was that Kou and his homeroom teacher had come through, as promised. Now someone else, in a completely different part of Japan and no real vested interest in Kunugigaoka knew how things were. Which meant that when the final showdown came, they were in with a real chance of winning. Until then, it was a case of brick by brick, step by step, and that is exactly what they were doing. _And I understand all that, too._ So it was with his head held up and plenty of vigour that Tada answered for all of them.

"Yes, Principal Okikura. We understand."

"Very, very good!" Okikura beamed at them. "Now, you can go home and enjoy your weekend by studying hard!"

They all (restrainedly) rushed out of the room and made their way downstairs, all too eager to leave.

"How on earth did you scumbags manage to wriggle out of that one, huh?" the pierced-eared boy started on them immediately, almost foaming at the mouth.

"Magic. Duh!" Izzy's quick-off-the-bat response stopped an annoyed Tsukuda from flying at them- and indeed, threw everyone off- and the pierced-eared boy blinked. Tada stifled a chuckle.

"Idiot." Was all the pierced-eared boy was able to say eventually.

"How eloquent." Kaori remarked almost inaudibly.

"Well, it doesn't matter, as your luck will not last at all. We're not in Kyoto anymore, so there!"

"Oh, do fuck off!" Hirigi (somewhat) calmly shot off. The main campus boys glared and shoved past them, leaving them alone. They remained silent as they left the main campus building, and waited until the main campus boys were safely heading in the other direction and therefore nowhere in earshot of them before they started talking.

"Are they actually freaking serious?!" Tsukuda fumed, fit to be tied as she stomped. "Are they actually, actually….."

"It would seem so. " Eriko said ruefully, carefully blank. "Still, I was expecting something a lot worse. At least cleaning is….well, I don't know."

"We can make a rota, right?" Kaori suggested. "Just like we have for our own cleaning duty."

Eriko nodded at this.

"But even so, this puts us at a big disadvantage, as even with the places we don't need to clean, we'll still take up a lot of time, and so we'll have less time to study. And won't that hurt one of Ending the End Class's aims?" Tsuwabuki inquired, concerned. They all nodded at that.

"We'll have to use weekends and the like. Study groups. And I do have those tables booked later on."

"Yes. I'm sure that somehow, we can manage things." Kinomoto encouraged.

"You two seem awfully optimistic." Kuroba said sceptically.

"Well, no, not really." Tada was quick to disagree. "But I want to have some sort of faith in things. What is the point of being, of living, of anything if you don't think and try to make things work out?"

"Ohh, Tada…" Tsukuda voice wrapped around him, soothing him. Tada rubbed his eyes briefly, then sent a grateful glance her way. He hadn't even realised that he had been saddened until she had lifted it away. She winked at him as they continued walking.

"They would win for certain if we just gave up now." Eriko countered Kuroba neatly. "So optimism isn't so bad."

"Well, at least we didn't get excluded, or expelled." Hana whispered. The others all agreed with this. Tada thought of the train station, and what Asami had said to him that day.

" _If you get into trouble- if Hana gets into trouble- while we're on this trip, then it's on you. It's on all of you in that group. I can't keep her out of trouble all the time, and this is my trip as much as hers. But she's still my sister. So if anything happens, anything at all, it is on you all. Understand that?"_

 _Despite being out of earshot, Asami's voice came out in angry, frantic, spiking whispers. Her eyes blazed with resentment and suspicion, narrowed as she regarded him. It made Tada want to cry, but he kept himself calm._

" _You don't need to worry, Asami-Chan. You have my word."_

" _And how much does your word count for, I wonder?"_

"Sorry, Hana-Chan." Tada apologised, suddenly heavy-hearted again.. "For dragging you into all this."

Hana shook her head. "I wasn't dragged."

"We shouldn't be the ones apologising to anyone, at all." Kuroba asserted.

"In a better world, maybe." Hirigi shot.

"Say, I want to go and check on our 3E flowers before Monday." Kinomoto neatly changed the subject. "I'm sure Isogai-san did a fine job with them, but I know those flowers pretty well and just want to check them. That, and I kind of miss them."

Makoto nodded seriously to punctuate this, and Eriko laughed. Tada shook his head and smiled.

"Sure. Go for it, Kinomoto-kun. Why don't we all come with you, maybe?"

"Well…having some extra hands would be nice." Kinomoto admitted thoughtfully.

"I'd be willing to accompany you." Haru offered. Kinomoto smiled at her and nodded his thanks. _Flower buddies._

"I don't mind tagging along either." Hirigi said. "Tsuwabuki-kun?"

Tsuwabuki shrugged neutrally.

"I'm not coming. " Kuroba decided. "I have better things to do. Izzy, what are you doing?"

"Hmmm…" Izzy stroked his chin in an almost scary imitation of Okikura, something Tada was fairly sure he was doing on purpose. "Depends. Li'l Aoshima-Chan, are you staying or going?"

Hana didn't seem to need to think about it. "Staying with them."

"Well then, that's what I'll be doing, Sei-Chan. Disappointed?" Izzy teased. Kuroba narrowed his eyes at him, but in a friendlier way than he tended to treat the rest of the class too.

"Nah, do what you want. See you on Monday." It wasn't clear whether the last sentence Kuroba threw out was aimed at Izzy only, or all of them, but all the same he used that as his exit point. Tada found himself breathing an internal sigh of relief when the intense redhead had left, and he was sure that the others did, too. He then swivelled to look at Yukiyama.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you up for a little flower expedition?" He regarded Yukiyama thoughtfully. Hiro hadn't told him anything about Yukiyama after her little visit to the inn during the Kyoto trip, but so far, she hadn't seemed like her mood was lower or anything. If anything, she did seem happier, but also more watchful. Regardless, it wasn't enough information for him to decide whether he should be cheering on a possible relationship or doing a Reno and steering Yukiyama away with the force of his glare. _How can I be sure to not overstep the mark, and how can I be a good brother to Hiro if I don't know what judgement to make?_

"No, thank you." Yukiyama said shortly, snapping Tada out of it. His look seemed to suggest that he had some inkling of what Tada was trying to work out about him, but he didn't clarify. Instead, he did something just a little surprising and added a little elaboration to his refusal.

"I have somewhere I need to be soon. I don't have the time that gardening would take to spare."

Tada strongly suspected that this would be Yukiyama's modelling job. He also had a feeling the girls who were currently with them thought this too. Although he knew Yukiyama wouldn't be surprised at him knowing, he wondered what, exactly, he would make of knowing the girls had figured it out by chance from a bunch of teen magazines. _It IS rather funny._ Of course, he didn't say anything about that, and instead just nodded politely.

"Well, all right then."

"Ah, I should go too! I'm accompanying Ataru and Fuyumi-san to physio later this afternoon, but I need to have lunch first! Sorry, Eri-Chan."

Ataru was one of Kaori's cousins, who had been in a car accident with Kaori a while back, and who had similar problems to Fuyumi as a result. Eriko tipped her head slightly to one side.

"No, don't worry about it, Kao-Chan." She said. "Say hello to Ataru-san for me, won't you?"

"Sure." Kaori agreed. "Anyway, goodbye! See you all on Monday!"

"Likewise, Kaori-Chan. And Yukiyama-kun, too!" Tada called out. Kaori kept waving for a while as she walked away, but all Yukiyama did was nod quietly as he retreated. When they had gone, Tada turned back to those that remained.

"Say, Kaori brought up a good point. It is getting near to lunch, so why don't we split up for lunch, and to change clothes or whatever, then regroup?" Tsukuda pulled a face at her school uniform.

"That might be an idea…" Haru contemplated. "It is basically _our_ campus."

"Well, there were some gardening tools I wanted to retrieve from home first, so perhaps that's an id-ooh, no , wait! " Kinomoto bounced a little on the spot. "Why don't you all come to mine for lunch? I'll cobble something together, then we can eat, and once I've grabbed the tools we can return!"

"But there's a lot of us…." Tsuwabuki pointed out doubtfully.

"Oh, that isn't a problem!" Kinomoto cheerily responded. Now he'd suggested the idea, he seemed very fired up and was practically shooting out beams of excitement everywhere, almost as anime-like as Ruko could be. _Eeep._

"We could always help, with the cooking and the clearing up." Haru suggested. Hirigi nodded at this.

"Yeah, I could do the same. I'm not too shabby at that sort of thing, as it happens." Hirigi's voice had a trace of practised nonchalance as he said this. Kinomoto nodded vigorously at this.

"That certainly does resolve that issue." Eriko concluded. "So I think I will accept that invitation, if it is all the same to you. What do the rest of you think?"

"I would like to." Hana murmured. Izzy winked and gave a thumbs-up. Tsuwabuki murmured his assent, and then finally, Tsukuda and Tada looked at each other. He tilted his head questioningly, and her eyes crinkled as she grinned and nodded. Reassured, he smiled back, softly.

 _Will it be fine?_

 _Yes, it will, stop worrying._

 _Okay then._

"Yeah, all right then. Let's go!"

 **…**

"The flowers have changed."

The words cut through the friendly chatter they'd started at Kinomoto's place and had been continuing as they walked. Eriko blinked as they reached the 3E flowerbeds. Absently, she tightened her grip on the shovel she was carrying.

"What do you mean?" Hirigi asked, echoing her confusion. Kinomoto turned to them and his face creased.

"I…I don't know." He admitted. "I need to take a closer look." With that, he practically strode over to the flowerbeds, and put down the compost bag and the stakes he had been carrying as he went to carefully comb over each flowerbed, no doubt trying to figure out what it was that had caught his eye. Haru put down the little bag that had the garden scissors and twine in them, and drifted over to him. Soon, her soothing voice drifted over to the rest of them, but the words she used did not.

"They took some of the violets." Haru and Kinomoto pronounced at the same time, straightening up to face their classmates. Startled, they backed away from each other somewhat and stared unblinkingly. In the end, Haru inclined her head, deferring to Kinomoto.

"The person took some of the violets, and forget-me-nots too. They also took some pink roses and white chrysanthemums, as well as some edelweiss, the sweet pea plants and the pansies." Kinomoto listed off. Eriko stepped a little closer, as did Tada.

"What do you mean, taken?" Eriko asked.

"Are you sure the flowers didn't maybe die, or that an animal didn't get in here, or that the weather didn't do something?" Tada queried, regarding the flowerbeds as well as he could without actually leaning over to scrutinise the flowers in the same way that Haru and Kinomoto had done.

"We haven't _had_ any extreme weather conditions recently." Tsuwabuki pointed out. Eriko however, knew what Tada was trying to say.

"He's saying that you are assuming straight off the bat that a person was responsible for…this. Why?"

"Because the flowers were replaced. And new ones were added. "

"They _what_?!" Hirigi squawked. Kinomoto repeated himself. They all stared at each other in silence, exchanging looks. Eriko noticed that that Tada seemed a little pale, even as he turned back to stare at the flowers.

"What are the new ones?" Hana asked eventually. Kinomoto was happy to answer.

"Laurel, allspice, roses that were coral coloured, magnolias, Sweet Williams, passion flowers and celandines." Kinomoto then launched into a long explanation about the flower's growing habits and something how he would need to replant some of them to keep them healthy. It was not something Eriko could keep up with. Nor was she sure she wanted to.

"But why those flowers?" Tsukuda wondered. "Is there something special about them?"

"Maybe a meaning?" Tsuwabuki put in. "I keep intending and intending to do research about that….maybe this will give me the push I need, at last?"

"Your issue right now is _procrastination_?" Tsukuda raised an eyebrow. Tsuwabuki goggled at her but didn't rise to it.

"Hey, perhaps one of our three mentors did this?" Izzy asked.

"What, Isogai and the others? Why would they do this without telling us?" Tsukuda pointed out.

"Not to mention, technically if we did assume it was one of them, the pool gets narrowed to two." When everyone stared at Eriko, she sighed heavily. "Kataoka-san is in France."

"Yeah, that's right." Tada agreed. Seemingly not finding what he was looking for –assuming he had been looking for anything- he sauntered back to the rest of them.

"They might still know something though….right?" Hana chimed in hesitantly.

"Yeah, that's right!" Hirigi gasped, clearly just remembering. "After all, he came to water the flowers, didn't he? I mean, while we were away?"

"Mhm." Haru nodded. They all looked at each other again, before looking back at the flowers. Kinomoto fidgeted restlessly.

"I could call Yuuma-san." Tada suggested. "I could ask."

"Would he even be free right now?" Eriko queried, remembering that even without them to think of, Isogai had a pretty busy job as a social worker. Tada shrugged.

"If he's in his office or something, sure. If not, I can just leave a message, or try again later."

"Can I fix the plants now?!" Kinomoto finally burst out.

"Wait, shouldn't we leave this to show someone? Like, if we reported it?" Hirigi asked.

"Why?" Izzy asked. "Replacing plants isn't a crime."

For once, Izzy was right. Eriko rubbed her head. _Think, Eriko! You're a Class Representative._

"Someone take photographs first. " She decided eventually. Tsukuda volunteered and took out her phone and swiftly snapped a few photographs. Then, she fumbled with her phone for a moment.

"I sent it to everyone." Tsukuda said when she had finished and tucked the phone away. Tada gave her a thumbs-up, and then took out his own phone and started to scroll through for Isogai's number, walking away from them and slightly towards the trees as he did so. Kinomoto took this as an indicator that he could finally start, and he immediately roped Haru and Tsuwabuki into his rearranging or whatever it was he had wanted to do. This left Eriko, Tsukuda, Hana, Izzy and Hirigi to watch Tada hold the conversation with Yuuma. And as it happened, although he had moved away, they could hear him perfectly clearly.

"Hello, Yuuma-san. No, no, I'm all right. And you? "Tada nodded and smiled, gazing up to the sky. "Ah, that's good to hear. Yeah, we're all okay for now….but there is something we wanted to ask you about. When we were in Kyoto, you came once a day to water the plants, yes?"

Tada tipped his head to the side as he listened to whatever it was Isogai was saying on the other end. Then, he rubbed his forehead with his free hand, almost tiredly.

"They're in good condition- we're actually up here now, looking at them. Kinomoto-kun is doing some rearranging and whatnot….anyway; the point is that there are some flowers here that weren't there before. Do you….do you know anything about them?"

Tada listened closely. Then, he shook his head.

"They weren't damaged. Just that some were taken, and while they were mostly replaced, some new ones were added- ones that Kinomoto-kun didn't plant before. He's currently going crazy making sure that the right plants are put together according to what nutrients they need…..oh, in a good way, don't worry. Kinomoto-kun _loves_ plants. "

Tada laughed, and the sound carried over to Kinomoto, who looked over and saluted Tada before returning to whatever it was he was doing with… _hanging baskets?_ Eriko planted her hands on her hips and shook her head in amazement before returning her attention back to Tada, whose face was creasing in concentration as he listened to whatever Isogai said. And continued listening. The hustle and bustle of Kinomoto and the others, and the general noises of the outdoors, thankfully interrupted what could have been a thick, heavy silence. But all the same, Eriko found the wait stifling.

"Ah, I see. It's all right, don't worry, Yuuma-san. It's not really scary. It's kind of a nice thing, in a way. I think it's like our ghost, not that we've heard from him recently…."

 _Eh?_ Eriko found that Tada's words produced an odd feeling. She kept herself still, thinking of the so-called ghost that had turned up a while back. She didn't know, exactly, what it was she felt about that. But….the way Tada referred to it… _why are you so reassured by that? No, wait._ Eriko startled as she realised that Tada was still talking, almost babbling, and so she tried to listen to what he was saying. She exchanged a look with Tsukuda, who just raised an eyebrow and gave a one shouldered shrug. She seemed a little confused too, but not all that much.

Then, Tada's final question to Isogai changed all of that.

"I just have one more question, and then I'll leave you to things…..so….was there a note left behind?"

"EH?!" Hirigi's jaw fell open. "Where the flip did that come from?!"

"Shhh!" Eriko scolded, pointing out the obvious fact- that Tada was still on the phone.

"Why is he asking about a note?" Hana stage-whispered. Tsukuda ruffled her hair, and Izzy stifled a laugh.

"You don't need to whisper, Li'l Aoshima-Chan."

Hana pouted.

"We still need to be _quiet_ , Ii-kun." She protested. "Tada-kun is on the phone."

 _And looking very sad while at it._ From the serious way in which Tada nodded, looked at the flowers, and then back to the sky before answering Isogai, suggested that no, there had been no note. But why Tada should have reacted like that, Eriko just could not figure out. Eventually, Tada bade his goodbyes and hung up. He gazed up at the sky for a little moment longer before heading back to them.

"No luck, I'm afraid." Tada said jovially. "So the flowers are a mystery."

"Perhaps that's how they should be." Izzy said. "I don't really see how such a mystery could be solved. Unlike the secrets of the 3E of 30 years ago. "

"You're still hacking into databases, aren't you?" Tada sighed. "Why? "

"Because they're hiding something, of course. Don't you want to know about it, considering?" Izzy half-taunted, looking at Tada full-on.

"Why not just bloody _ask_ them?!" Tsukuda retorted, all bluster and storm. "If you're that concerned, that is!"

"Tsukuda-Chan, that 3E's files are all encrypted at government level. _Government._ And none of the others are."

This, nobody had any response to. Tada just blinked, and rubbed his eyes, and blinked again, seemingly unable to comprehend. He seemed to sway a little on his feet, and Tsukuda moved closer to him instantly, seemingly by instinct. Hirigi glared at Izzy, while Eriko and Hana hesitated, wondering what to do. _I don't want you to say things like that about them. Kataoka-san isn't bad. The others aren't either. I'm sure Tada-san's mother was a good person too. Don't desecrate them._

Then, just like that, Tada seemed to come to a decision of sorts, and shook his head, no doubt mentally clearing his mind.

"I don't believe that, so I don't want to hear it." He told Izzy, who groaned and shrugged heavily in a resigned, do-what-you-want sort of way.

"Lets' forget about the flower swapping now, and go help Kinomoto-kun and the others. " Tada decreed after this quick, harsh dismissal. Tsukuda agreed off the bat, and after a moment, the others did too, and so they sauntered over and got to work. Soon, it almost seemed as if they had forgotten the flower-swap mystery, as if they were purely there for some gardening rearrangements.

But, any time Eriko looked over at Tada –who had Tsukuda trailing him, engaging him in a conversation that was more silent questions and gestures than words- she just could not shake the odd feeling she had. Nor could she shake off the confusion.

 _Why did you ask about a note, Tada-san?_

 **…**

Isogai put his mobile down with a sense of resignation, and picked up his pen to continue to make the notes on the case file he was looking at. He had a meeting soon, to discuss this very family, and so he needed to make sure he knew what he was going to say, what he would recommend should be done next. But he found that he couldn't make the pen move to do what he must. All he could think about was the fact that he had lied to Tada. And that he wasn't sure why.

What, exactly, was it that he was aiming to do, in hiding the existence of that person? He was so near to them all, 3E students of past and present. And very close to the present ones, assuming that he had not taken Isogai's advice and gone to kip over at someone's rather than stay in the forest. Naturally, it was impossible for him to know, and although he kicked himself for suggesting Rio's- _how could have I forgotten what the looks they gave each other last time implied?_ -it was entirely possible his old friend had welcomed the suggestion and was even now, sleeping in a bed, normally.

 _Oh, I hope you're sleeping well. You couldn't have seen that coming at all, and you should know that by now. So stop beating yourself up, please._ Pointless things to think, as it was not as though either of them had ever been telepathic. But at least it was better than pushing those words towards trees, not knowing whether they actually reached other human ears or not. Isogai sighed, sadly, and pulled out the note he'd been keeping in his pocket for now, until he figured out what to do with it. Smoothing it out, he laid it on the table over the file he needed to be looking at, regarding the handwriting that somehow hadn't changed in 13 years. In 30, even. The listed flowers and their Victorian meanings stared up at him.

Isogai just could not understand what his motivations could have been in leaving such a note. The few appearances he'd made back in the world over the past 13 years had been sporadic, without warning, without prelude. Okay, sure, the list did not betray identity except to those who had-and hopefully still- knew him well. But…. _maybe this means he's returning. Perhaps this is his way of testing the waters._ If it was, then Isogai should confess to the students, especially Tada, that he had lied, and why. Then again, what if being so known so soon was too much? Surely then, hiding the note away was the right thing to do, to give him that time. Hell, what was a few more months when 13 years had gone by? And it was not as if Isogai could make himself forget all the ways in which he had helped them, starting with what had connected them all in the first place. _Even if I didn't owe him anything, it wouldn't matter. The decent thing to do, always, as a human, is to help a friend in need. And if he isn't a friend in need, what is?_

"Arrggh." He groaned quietly, so as to not attract the attention of any of his other co-workers, and stared down at the note. There was also the small detail that if the note had been there the children would have freaked out, and been scared, and if he had allowed that he would have failed in his purpose. He was supposed to help them, to use as many of Koro-sensei's lessons as he could (short of the actual assassination related stuff) to help those who had been just like him, a long time ago. He was not meant to harm them, and he….well, who knew for sure, why he had returned there, of all places? Isogai did truly believe that they would be safe with his eyes over them, but if they knew about it, he wasn't sure they'd feel it.

And in a way, he had a duty to help Tada, one of their second-genners-as Arisa put it-who had set into motion something so big and so wonderful and disorienting-ly unknowable. _Ending the End Class._ How he could have not thought of that, how none of them could have thought of that, was almost unbelievable now that such a plan had been put forward. Hinano would be proud, if there was a place where spirits could watch over the living that were left behind. Isogai was sure of it. Hopefully, Mamoru would have been too, even if he wasn't ever part of any 3E. After all, he had created the anti-bullying scheme so many schools now used. That his own daughter Ikuko reinforced everyday as part of her job.

 _But Tada-kun….why did you ask about a note? And the ghost? Do you have an inkling, maybe, of what is being hidden?_ Isogai closed his eyes against the slight headache that was forming. His thoughts were going everywhere. Left, right, up, down. This re-emergence had thrown him. He needed to breathe, and take things one step at a time.

So first, he checked the time, and assessed how long he had until the meeting. Satisfied with that, he took out his phone and snapped a clear photograph of the note before opening up WhatsApp and sending the picture to Maehara and Megu in the group chat they'd set up specifically for their 3E mentoring purposes. He added a single line caption – _I think he has returned to look over our current 3E-_ and sent it. Given the time zone differences where Megu was, and the fact that Maehara was currently watching Touji's football match and would later be going for a meal with Okano, Arisa and Youko, he doubted the message would be seen at any time soon, but at least he would be getting opinions. After all, Megu had always been telling him not to take on everything by himself.

As an afterthought, Isogai then fired off a quick message to Rio, so she wouldn't arrive home from her trip to a big surprise if it did turn out that he had stayed there. Once he had done that, he checked the time again, and checked the other things he needed to do after the meeting- meet up with Kitabayashi to help him with English, make a few home visits to the other vulnerable young people (and their families on his list), then come back to the office to file away all the admin things before going home for the evening. He quietly repeated the list to rehearse it, although he had already memorised it anyway. Then, he folded the note, put it back in his pocket, and picked up his pen to carry on making notes for the meeting that would decide another family's future.

 **…**

Completely wiped out from the day's events, Tada more or less stumbled straight from his dinner to his bed, only just remembering to brush his teeth and change in between. Assisting Kinomoto in rearranging the flower beds had turned into a full on garden renovation TV show type thing. Given Kinomoto's pickiness about the entire thing, it could have been a _reality-TV_ garden show. Indeed, some of the spats and silly moments that had broken out as a result of the personalities there were reminiscent of such entertainment, in a way.

 _But it was worth it though,_ Tada recalled silently with a smile as he pulled the quilt over him and closed his eyes, still contemplating everything deeply. Naturally, the end result was spectacular- colourful hanging baskets trailing flowers on either side of the entrance doorway, planters on the windowsills with some of the smaller plants in them, flowerpots bearing their roses leaning against the walls in various specially selected spots, and all the flowerbeds pruned and neatened, still as loud and colourful as ever. And meaningful, naturally. They were still meaningful.

This was something he was sure of, even though he did not have a clue who had taken them. Whoever it was would have done it for reasons that were, if not good exactly, then meaningful, reasons with kindness driving them. And, in a way, some regret. He wished he could have told the others that he knew this for sure, that really, they didn't need to worry about whoever it was who might have stolen onto their campus while away and taken the flowers they'd had before.

But then he would have been asked why, why it was he was so sure. Which ordinarily he wouldn't have minded- scepticism, open-mindedness and discussion were good, they were needed, especially in order to do what they were doing. _Step by step, brick by brick_. In this case, however, he dreaded the idea, the idea of having to tell them about the flowers that had turned up on Chika's doorstep, just before he and Hiro had returned home.

Tada tossed and turned in his bed, tangling himself in the quilts despite his exhaustion, thinking of the bouquet of flowers tied loosely by a slim black elastic hair tie that now sat in an old glass bottle on the kitchen table. The sweet pea flowers, the pansies, the few sprigs of violets- all ones he had somehow instantly recognised as 3E's. And most of all, he thought of the scrap piece of paper that had been tucked into the haphazard bouquet.

 _Flowers are never brought to suicides, or so they say. I wanted to prove that wrong, because that sounds like nobody cares, and you should know that is not true._

There was no signature, the handwriting was not any he – or Chika, or Hiro for that matter- recognised. The sentences themselves read as incomplete, as if there was more the sender had wanted to say and had decided not to for whatever reason, instead just deciding to let the flowers do the talking for them. Which, in a way they did.

Because the flowers weren't any flowers. No, Tada knew for sure that the flowers had come from 3E's garden. _Their_ garden. And so, the words persisted in his head, and continued to haunt him as he somehow slipped into sleep.

 **So, things to clarify:**

 **-I'm not trying to insinuate that Tada and Tsukuda are telepathic. It's more a metaphor thing, something to characterise the way they interact with each other. What do you make of it?**

 **-I'm just casually dropping in more names of former 3E members' children. I really like names, what can I say? Anyway, this time around, Arisa, Youko and Touji are Maehara's 3 kids. Arisa and Youko are girls aged 19 and 17 respectively and they're the children Maehara had with Okano, and Touji is his 10-year-old son from a different, later relationship. So basically although I ship Maehara and Okano, I ship them in a very weird way- in that they wouldn't last in a stable romantic/sexual relationship, but that they'd get along somehow anyway.**

 **-I derived the concept of the note Tada 'received' from the novel 'All the Bright Places' by Jennifer Niven. I can't for the life of me remember if I'm direct quoting a section though...**

 **Anyway, as always, please leave feedback! And don't forget the Tumblr tag!**


	25. To Protect

**This chapter was surprisingly difficult to write despite the vividness with which some of the scenes were playing out in my mind. But anyway, it is here, so read to your heart's delight, and as always, let me know what you think!**

* * *

Once she had (finally) managed to scrape her hair into a ponytail, Ayako regarded herself in the mirror, judging how messy her hair was. After a moment, she raised her eyes to the heavens in annoyance before tugging the scrunchie out in and trying again. And again, and again. In the end, she gave up with an annoyed sigh, and put the scrunchie away, and hunted out the hair slides she'd used the last time she'd had a bad hair day. Then, she quickly re-dragged the comb through her hair and used the hair slides to pin it back. Once she had, she sat down on her bed to slip on her long socks before padding back to her laptop, which had finished charging, and booting it up.

Once she had logged in, she played with the thought of uploading her posts to the blog now, instead of after breakfast, but after looking up at the time, decided against it. So instead, she headed downstairs and made a beeline for the kitchen cupboards, hunting out bread and peanut butter to make some breakfast sandwiches. She also hunted out snacks to take with her for lunch time.

"Oh, Ayako, you're up early."

Ayako's mother- Naomi- stepped into the kitchen and regarded Ayako. Ayako lifted her hand up to wave cheerily, but then noticed that was the hand holding the peanut butter knife, so she quickly put that down and just beamed. Naomi shook her head in amusement and went over to her.

"I have something to do today." Ayako explained. "So I figured, may as well, you know. It's okay, I've sorted lunch."

" _That's_ your lunch?" Naomi raised an eyebrow, sounding (somewhat understandably) incredulous. Ayako chose not to say anything, and put away the rest of the bread loaf and the peanut butter before carrying her plate to the table. Almost as soon as she did that, her mother started clearing away the snacks that she'd left on the table, replacing them with ingredients to make a basic bento box type lunch.

" _Mu-um_! I was coming back for those, you know!"

"You need to eat properly if you want to keep up with your education." Was her predictably mother-like explanation for this as she dove into the cooking. Ayako rolled her eyes and sat down dramatically to begin her sandwiches. For a few moments, they were in silence, Ayako munching and Naomi busy preparing food.

"So, this something to do today, is it something to do with your friends?" Naomi asked a little too casually, not looking over at Ayako. Ayako swallowed her mouthful quickly and put down her bread slice. She took a moment to think about how best to answer, especially as she hadn't yet told Naomi about the Ending the End Class project.

"With my 3E friends, yes. Not Komari-san or the others. I don't even talk to them anymore."

"Good. I don't want you talking to those girls anymore anyway."

"I'm _aware_ of that, Mum. " Ayako said, dragging her words out in an exaggeratedly patient way. "You keep telling me that."

"I know, I know." Naomi turned her head to look at Ayako. "I just don't want you getting in the same behaviours that led you into 3E."

Ayako chose to not respond to that, instead just picking up the bread from her plate and eating again. Okay, so perhaps slacking off to the extent she had last year was never good, but now she had spent time in 3E, and met all the people there and spent time with them….well, in a way, she was glad to be there. And she even had a purpose there.

"I mean, isn't it hard for you, Ayako? You don't really say anything about what it's like, but I've heard the talk about what 3E means….are you unhappy?"

Naomi finished the cooking, and quickly cleared up before packing Ayako's lunch in a red bento box, wrapping it up with the star-patterned wrapping cloth she'd brought back from Kyoto, and carrying it over to the dining table, where she put it down before sitting opposite Ayako.

"Did you hear me, Ayako?"

Ayako blinked confusedly at her mother before replaying back her words and realising. _Oh, Mum._ She laughed sheepishly.

"Sorry, Mum. "She rubbed her head. "But I'm fine, really. We're doing a lot of things together, as a class. Something big and important. "

"Big and important, huh?" Naomi tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at Ayako, considering. Ayako randomly noted how her eyes were the same as her mother's (even though she knew this already), and suddenly decided that she would be happy if she aged to look like how her mother did now. After a growth spurt though, obviously.

"Yeah," Ayako said enthusiastically. _Please believe me._ "It is important. And fun, and we're all working together. Learning, too, and not just classwork things!"

Ayako held off from mentioning that it was also something big, that hadn't been tried before, and that they'd barely started. She also added in the last bit as an afterthought, knowing that specifically mentioning learning would keep her mother happy. And sure enough, Naomi leant forward, interested.

"What sort of things? Can you tell me about them? "

"Hmm…." _Ah crap, what do I say?! I can hardly talk about bullying or basic rights or anything like that….._ Ayako's mind scrambled in panic for a moment, wondering what to say, and then she thought back to Saturday-only the day before yesterday- and the kerfuffle about the flowers being replaced. She hadn't actually been there at the time, but photos had been sent around.

"Botany! Gardening, that sort of thing. Look, I'll show you!" Ayako pulled her phone out of her blazer pocket, opened up her gallery and searched for the photographs of the flowers- not just the beds, but the baskets and the pots and the other arrangements- and showed them to Naomi. They then spent a few good minutes with Naomi asking questions and looking through the pictures approvingly while Ayako happily explained it all.

"Well then, that all looks very good. That's pretty impressive for a middle schooler. Like a professional botanical garden. "

"It does, doesn't it?" Ayako grinned cheesily. Naomi smiled back.

"Yes, it certainly does, and you're fishing for compliments, I can tell. Now, if you could apply that type of enthusiasm to your exams..."

"Mum….." Ayako groaned, thinking of the humiliating mid-terms. _I want to do better, and I will, but not for the reasons that you'd probably assume. But I can't tell you those reasons yet._ Naomi seemed to read some of Ayako's thoughts, as she shook her head ruefully, still smiling, as she got up.

"But I'm sure you will. Now, I need to go and get ready for work, and you should probably get ready to leave soon, if you have things to do."

"Yeah, I should." Ayako gave Naomi a thumbs up before she left, and then crammed the rest of the bread into her mouth and started to chew as fast as possible.

"Oh, and Ayako?" Naomi returned to the doorway of the kitchen suddenly, and Ayako swivelled around to stare. Since her mouth was full of food, she just tipped her head to the side as an acknowledgement of her mother's question. The gesture made Naomi chuckle before she put forward her question.

"If anything does trouble you later on, you'll tell me, won't you?" Naomi said. "I can try to help you."

Ayako suddenly had trouble swallowing, touched. She blinked, and then managed to swallow again, nodding vigorously and giving Naomi a thumbs-up. Then, Naomi left, and Ayako managed to swallow the rest of her breakfast.

Once she was upstairs again, she quickly opened up the blog and her associated email account, as well as the not-yet-uploaded post she had to put on the blog, which was a post that compiled together some of the worst comments that the trolls were still leaving on the blog, and then responding to those comments, either satirically or seriously, depending on the comment. It was an idea she'd seen on many other blogs, and it seemed to translate well on Ending the End Class. This post she would be uploading was the seventh one of its type.

She scanned the 'comment-response post' (as she thought of it) over for layout issues, changing a few things here and there, as well as any spelling mistakes. Then, she went over it one last time for luck before uploading it. She crossed her fingers as she watched the uploading process, and did a little happy dance when it was successful. She then skimmed over the latest emails, all of them comment notifications, deliberately leaving the horrible ones for later, when she would be somewhat insulated from all of that horror by being with her friends. Then, she shut down the laptop, made sure she had everything in her school bag (including the bento lunch Naomi made, as well as her own digital camera) before rushing down.

"I'm going now, Mum!" Ayako yelled up as she slipped on her shoes quickly, adjusted her bag so it wouldn't slip off her shoulder.

"Okay then!" her mother called down. "Take care, won't you?"

"Yeah, I will!" Ayako responded cheerfully. _And one day soon I will tell you all about Ending the End Class._ With that happy thought, Ayako bounded out of her house and headed towards school.

 **…**

"Gah, we made it!" Jori groaned as they reached the entrance to the main campus. "I totally thought we'd be late."

"I told you we wouldn't though." Fuyumi pointed out patiently, still clinging to Jori's back. Tada chuckled at Jori's attempt to glare at Fuyumi before putting her down, even as he caught his own breath and set down his end of the wheelchair. Koujiro did the same, then merrily wheeled it over so that Fuyumi could sit in it.

"Man, that was a close call." Hirigi could be heard saying to Haru.

"Yeah, it was." Haru agreed. "Maybe next time I should make sure to remind Ichijou-sensei closer to the time."

"Where IS Ichijou-sensei anyway?" Yamada asked, blinking as she dusted leaves off her skirt. _How the hell did she manage to do that?!_

Tada opened his mouth to admit he didn't know when a response came from a surprising place.

"Aww, poor diddums. Lost without your teacher?" The lipsticked second-year girl from the library incident appeared with a few female friends in tow. Tada struggled to place her name, and then wondered if he had even found it out. Even so, he just narrowed his eyes at her.

"It isn't any of your business. "He informed her shortly. She just narrowed her eyes and sneered, and her friends tittered and giggled. Tsukuda let out an angry huff, but she didn't do anything, and some of the other 3E students came closer, curious. But it was Eriko who chose to respond to the second-year girls.

"You should all be indoors, in the hall. Why are you all out here?" She asked, sounding every inch like a stern teacher. _Or class rep, even._

"The assembly will start soon, so I suggest you go inside. We'll be joining you."

"We don't need to take any advice from you!" one of the other girls said, causing the rest of the posse to twitter amongst themselves. Tada exchanged a look with Tsukuda, both of them wondering what would happen next. They stared each other down for a moment or two, during which Yamada lost interest and drifted away, turning her head to the sky to search out the moon. Eventually though, the lipsticked girl tossed her frizzy hair and gave them a snooty look. Another of the girls, with bleached blond hair, did something similar.

"Let's just go, Komori-san. "She sniffed haughtily. Eriko scrutinised them, but did not say anything

"I think we will." The lipsticked girl- _Komori-Chan?_ \- pronounced. And with that, the posse headed back into the school building. Tada let out a huge sigh of relief.

"That struck me as extraordinarily pointless." Tsukuda remarked.

"Why is that girl even wearing lipstick anyway? How is she getting away with it?" Eriko burst out on the heels of that remark, clearly frustrated by the fact. Kaori patted her shoulder consolingly. Tada just shook his head and shrugged at her. _I'd been wondering the same thing myself._

Izzy moved his inhaler away from his mouth to snicker at this, before putting the inhaler in his pocket and sauntering towards the door. Kuroba followed him, and after a moment of wild looking around, Hana did too. And Ruko, sensing a photo-op opportunity, clung to her camera and snuck after them. Tada face-palmed at the sight, and looked around to see if Ichijou would come.

"We should probably go inside now." Tada decided, pointing in the direction of the disappearing four.

"Roger that!" Koujiro saluted Tada cheerfully before taking over the steering of Fuyumi's wheelchair and heading straight to the door, Jori rushing over. Tada, Tsukuda, Eriko and Kaori fell into a walk behind them, and the others all followed along at various paces- Ayako half-skipping, Yukiyama almost drifting, and Azama ambling as if there was nothing to worry about. .

"Hey, Yamada, come on!" Tsukuda snagged Yamada by the sleeve to make sure she wasn't left outside, making her squeak in surprise. They all filed into the hall and bee-lined for the end of the hall where they usually stood during the assemblies, side-stepping some students and almost bumping into others, fielding the usual sneers and jeers. Just like the beginning of any old assembly. Part of Tada looked out for Ueno amongst the crowds of students, although he didn't expect an acknowledgement from his former friend, but he didn't spot him. He did, however, see Aida. As she was turned away from him though, he allowed himself to scrutinise her, wondering. After the day of Haru and Tsukuda's exclusion, Hiro had stopped talking to Aida, and hadn't mentioned her since. Tada didn't even know what class she was in this year, or what she thought about anything. _I wonder, will that matter? Is there hope that maybe, just maybe, she could end up an ally? Or should I give that sort of idea up?_

Shaking the thought away, he found his way to 'his' standing spot (dragging Ruko away from where she was sneakily photographing two unsuspecting first-year boys deep in conversation)next to Tsukuda and behind Fuyumi, Jori and Koujiro, and just waited for the assembly to start. Ruko gave him a dark look, then dug in her pocket for a packet of Starbursts before slinking away to further down the line, where Ayako, Kaori, Haru and Eriko were. As the final students found their places, Ichijou rushed in, all unruffled as usual, and took her place with some of the other teachers on the side, beginning a conversation with another female teacher.

"I don't think this is going to be good. I…feel some sort of dread." Fuyumi said suddenly, turning around to catch the eyes of as many of them as they could. Tada frowned quizzically at her.

"Fuyumi-san, when are these assemblies _ever_ good?!" Jori spluttered. Fuyumi gave her a resigned look, one which seemed to say 'you don't know what you are talking about'. But she didn't say anything, not even to protest at Jori's blistering tone. _That isn't good._

"What do you mean?" Tada asked conversationally, although the sinking feeling in his stomach didn't disappear. At that moment, the sound of static filled the room and more than a few of the students jumped. Okikura just smiled and waited for the hubbub to die down, and that was when Tada realised that just like at the beginning of the year, Okikura had been standing there just watching them. _Creep._

"Hello again, Kunugigaoka Junior High." Okikura began once the room had gone utterly quiet. "Welcome to yet another wonderful assembly. Now, I have a couple of things to say regarding school rules, however, those will wait until the end. For now, I will step back for our Student Council President."

And sure enough, he did, and the prominent Hasegawa took the stand. He scanned the hall, as Tada had recognised to be a habit of his. And as with all the other times, Hasegawa's gaze stopped on Class 3E, and darkened. And as usual, Tada stiffened his shoulders, straightened just a little more, and in terms of looks, returned the sentiment. Usually, in such a case, Hasegawa sully narrowed his eyes further before dismissing them by returning his attention dead centre. But this time, he gave an almost imperceptible sneer before turning back to the middle and addressing everyone.

"What was that?" Tsukuda's whisper reached his ear, and only his. "What _was_ that?!"

Tada turned slightly to her, and gave her a one shouldered shrug. _I don't know_. But as an afterthought, he pointed to Fuyumi, whose back was turned to them as she was watching the front. Tsukuda nodded grimly. _So, maybe Fuyumi's concerns are more than the usual ones._ But of course, that was not something either could confirm at that moment, so they just refocused on the assembly and listened to what was going on.

For the most of it, nothing bad happened. Or rather, nothing that wasn't something they were used to by now. Open insults, veiled insults and jokes at their expense. With a handout regarding the end-of-term exams, the old trick of pretending not to have enough or 3E was pulled again, but even that wasn't much of a bother, as Izzy had procured copies in advance, and they were sitting on Ichijou's desk in their classroom, waiting to be handed out. So as Hasegawa, a couple of club presidents and various teachers droned on, Tada found himself thinking that maybe Fuyumi was wrong.

And then Okikura stepped back up to the microphone and began to speak, and just like that, the assumption was broken.

"Now, for an announcement of school rules. As you know, especially if you are 3E, misbehaviour and violence are not tolerated in this school at all, and you are all expected to adhere to that. Unfortunately, I've had far too many reports of these rules been broken time and time again. But yet the culprits never seem to want to take responsibility for this. "

Okikura levelled a look at 3E, and on cue, pretty much the rest of the school started to laugh, cut off as soon as Okikura looked away. _What…is he trying to say?_

"Since personal responsibility and honesty are also values that we cultivate here, this is indeed troubling to the school image, particularly when this disorder is being caused by the same people, over and over again. Admittedly, there are the occasional times when it turns out they are in the clear, but those are rare, and I'm sure most of you have had trouble with 3E before, and have been frustrated and saddened when they have gotten away with it. "At this point, Okikura paused dramatically and gave a moment for the information to sink in.

"Get away with it?! Us? What planet is this idiot on?" Jori bristled, annoyed, her hands easily bunching into rock-like fists as she strengthened her stance and stared up at the stage. Tada was slack-jawed and almost numb with the confusion, although he could all too easily feel that Tsukuda had started to shake, beside him. A glance in her direction revealed to him a face that was a cross between stunned and apoplectic. _Breathe, Hanae-Chan, breathe._ Of course, she didn't notice, but on the bright side she didn't speak up and try to do something. There would be a time for that….later, once Okikura had actually finished telling them what he needed.

"So, to make sure that the rules of this school are upheld properly and that the persistent offenders are sanctioned appropriately, with the invaluable input of the School Board and the senior members of the Student Council, we have come up with a new scheme. If there is an altercation or any sort of incident where a 3E member is involved, the issue will be solved based upon the testimony of the main campus student, regardless of the incident, and 3E will be appropriately sanctioned. The only exception to this is if an _independent_ witness, one who is not a member of 3E and therefore has no interest in letting them get away with things, is accurately able to vouch for them. If there is no such witness, then any ambiguity will be taken to assume it is the main campus student who is in the right.

So heed that advice carefully before getting into anything that could violate the values this school stands for. This applies to all of you. Now, I do not wish for you to be kept back from your educations any longer. So with that, the assembly is dismissed. Please return to your classrooms promptly. "

And, as if he'd done nothing more than give off a weather report, Okikura nodded at them all and left the stage calmly.

 **…**

"Oi, for god's sake, push off! Kitabayashi, are you all right?!"

Glaring at the 3D students who had tripped Kitabayashi up, but not daring to go any further than that, Tsukuda focussed upon the smaller, puzzle loving boy and helped him up, picking up the Sudoku book he had dropped hand handing it back before grabbing his wrist and dragging him away from the boys. She was hoping that getting outside the hall, using the exit that led to outdoors and therefore the path to their campus, would be enough. _Surely they won't bother to follow us out here, where it is too much bother._ But of course, her luck wasn't in good supply today, and so when she got to the doorway, she found a bunch of tall, muscular jock-types (she could not tell what year they were in) surrounding Fuyumi's wheelchair, taunting her and telling her to get up and tell them 'properly' if she wanted them to let her through. Jori and Koujiro, both perfectly robust, were trying to remonstrate with them, but all the same, she could not let it lie.

"Go and join Tada, or Eriko!" she let go off Kitabayashi's wrist and gave him a hurried (but kind) shove. "Go! Now! Just head back to class!" He glared at her balefully with his teal eyes, but he complied well enough, and Tsukuda rushed at the jocks.

"Oho, it's that crazy old broad. " One jock said. "What should we do with her?"

"Well, she needs dealing with, the same as these imbeciles here." Another said, reaching out to grab at her forcefully. Quickly, using everything her beloved aunt had told her (and all the things she'd learnt from her wonderful 3E friends), she dodged the attack by ducking, her long ponytail whipping her face , and then sprang up to block the boy's fists with the side of her arm. The boy tried to force her away, and she felt herself skid against the flooring, but she kept it up, bringing up her other arm as a reinforcement of sorts. When the boy decided to kick her, she turned and ducked again, spinning around in a circle to draw him away from Fuyumi and the others. Thankfully, the strategy worked, as they were able to slip away unscathed (or so she hoped). The only trouble was that it left her alone with the boys, who wasted no time in surrounding her, boxing her in with both their bodies and their menace. She didn't mind taking them on to protect her friends….but they referred to her as a _crazy old broad._ Who knew how far those attitudes could manifest? What would she let herself in for if she went too far? How far was too far? _I shouldn't need to have to ask myself these questions._

Looking around her wildly, as if seeking an escape route, she found one in the form of Ichijou walking with the teacher she had been with the entire assembly. She seemed relatively unruffled, despite what Okikura had just sentenced them too. _Do you not see it, Ichijou-sensei?_ In the end though, it didn't matter, as the boys also spotted the staff, and promptly decided to split.

"Ah, Tsukuda-san, you're still here? We should hurry, don't you think?" Ichijou said pleasantly. _Hurry. Hurry, hurry, hurry in case it ends up already being too late._

"Yes, yes, I will hurry, don't worry!" Tsukuda shouted out, breaking into a run and rushing forward. She ignored Ichijou's protest that she didn't mean that 'you should go _quite_ that fast' and instead kept moving and moving past everyone, slowing down next to everyone to check on them but speeding up so that she missed no-one. Luckily, none of the others had seemed to immediately encounter trouble right off the bat. _But it will happen, soon, and will I be able to help when it comes?_ The answer that she strongly suspected to be the correct one, given that she was just a human, was not one she wanted to here, and so she kept moving and moving, her feet almost controlling her than the other way around. In that way, she was the first to return to the building, a fact that made her snort a little in contrived humour as she slowed down to a stop to catch her breath, coming out in ear-splitting, shaky, rough gasps. She doubled over, resting her hands against her knees, taking deep breaths, but although she felt her heartbeat settle a little, the quavering didn't go away.

 _You should sit down now, Hanae._ But when she looked up at the building, she found herself thinking of the jocks, the ones who had been pestering Fuyumi, circling around her, closing her in. _I don't want to be shut in anywhere. I don't, I can't, I can't._ Her stomach contents felt like they were curdling, rotting, and nausea rose up in her throat.

"Tsukuda-san?! What are you doing?" In the fog that was clouding her head the more she moved, she found she couldn't recognise who was calling her, and so she ignored the voice as she got deeper and deeper into the forest. Naturally enough, it just faded away, and she let it. _I can't do this._

"Oh!" losing her footing suddenly, she only just managed to adjust herself so she'd end up on her knees when she suddenly dropped to the ground, heavily, all spent. Almost instantly, the nausea reared its head again, this time with a vengeance, and so she retched violently, but nothing came of it. _Oh, just pull yourself together and get it out of your system._ Wrapping her hands around her stomach, she tried again and again, hoping to get this sickness out of and away from her system. But all that happened was the sensation of her throat being scraped raw and her insides being filled with the heaviest type of emptiness instead, so she gave up, letting her head hang in shame and the water leak silently from her eyes with no attempt to wipe it. _I should be stronger than this by now….I know all this….but….I don't want…I don't want…_

"I'll come back in a moment! Go away!" she lied crabbily in response to the footsteps she heard quietly approach her. Sure enough, they stopped, and she waited for the sound of them receding. But that sound didn't come. Instead, after a moment or two, they actually came closer to her, and then the owner of the feet seemed to bash against the ground, presumably crouching or sitting down. Tsukuda didn't want to see, didn't want to know, so she stayed as she was, a few teardrops flying away as she squeezed her eyes shut. And then, the person shuffled a little closer and let out a melancholy little "Ohh" in a voice she would always swear to recognising.

 _Tada._

Tada-if it was indeed him-, didn't say anything, and kept them in the hush for a while longer. Tsukuda supposed that he was most likely scrutinising her. _Is he beside me, or behind me? Where are you now, Tada?_ Curious despite herself, she decided to straighten out a little so she could take a peek, but it was at that moment his arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her closer to his body. His knees poked a little into her back but she didn't find it uncomfortable. Instead, she thought, _Oh, so he is crouching behind me. Okay, then._ It was, in its own way, a bolstering fact, but she still had the overwhelming feeling of not wanting to go inside, of the powerlessness that would follow if she dared to.

She twisted a little so that she could meet his green eyes, so that she could tell him…well, not that, exactly, but something close to it. He let one arm fall back to his side to loosen his hold to make this easy for her, but he didn't release her, not completely. _But if I were to leave, you would let me._ It was another thing she was sure of….and for that reason, she didn't wriggle away. But she also lost her words, and found herself blinking, more than lost.

"Hanae."

He said her name, presumably as a way of anchoring her, or just to break the unearthly silence of the forest, but it was enough to unravel her, to send her pieces flying apart, and so rather than showing frustration and anger, she broke down instead.

"They're going to kill us! Tada, they're going to try to _KILL_ us. And nobody can see that! Nobody seems to see that even if they decide they have the authority to take a life-one of ours- nobody is going to care because it's us. Because we're the End Class, 3E, the school disgraces and the worst disappointments. They're going to try to kill us and the world will let them get away with it if there are no 'independent witnesses'! And even if they don't actually kill us, Okikura's just given them a free pass to do whatever the hell they want! No matter what it is, they'll just PUNISH US instead….and….and…"

Sobs punctuated her poor attempt at explaining everything that was wrong with the day, but she didn't care at this point. She just cried and cried until she was all dried up and scraped out (all over again). Tada didn't say anything throughout this, and just remained there, comfortingly near. She didn't exactly cling to him, but she used the fact that he was tangibly there to gradually pull herself back together.

And after what seemed like an era, she did manage to do so, and she scooted away slightly from Tada so that he could move around a bit, not end up all pins-and-needles. Tsukuda then picked up the packet of tissues that were near her, and concentrated on opening the packet and cleaning her face with the tissues.

"Say, isn't Ichijou-sensei going to miss you?" she asked, reality (albeit a different aspect of it) setting in as she remembered there was still some of the school day to go through. She turned to look at Tada, who was now sitting cross-legged. He looked incredibly relieved that she was calm(er), and practically leapt to give an answer.

"Nah, it's all right. "He flapped a hand dismissively. "We're not the only ones going a little AWOL. Tsuwabuki-kun is somewhere around, digging for more things, and Kinomoto-kun is busy with the flower pots, dealing with the deadheads or whatever- "

"You realise you can only be AWOL or accounted for? You can't be some intermediate state in between." Tsukuda interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah." Tada stuck his tongue out at her cheekily, and unexpectedly, she laughed. _Ah, it feels good to laugh._

"Say," she held up the now half-empty packet of tissues. "Thanks for this. I didn't actually have any tissues on me."

Tada just blinked at that, however, just zoning on the packet like it was a foreign object.

"I didn't give those to you…." He said eventually, blinking slowly. He reached out and took the packet from her and regarded it. Tsukuda also stared at it, not sure what to make of that revelation.

"That's….so strange." She turned back to the trees ahead of her, and an idea occurred to her. "Hey, didn't you say Tsuwabuki…."

"Other end, nearer to the building." Tada finished for her. "He couldn't have gotten here so fast….I don't even know if he clocked that you'd gone in the first place. But….maybe it is the ghost….."

"What, the one that was singing 'Hello Shooting Star' a while back? When we were playing hide-and-seek? How and why?"

"I don't know about the how….but that ghost is a good ghost, I'm sure of it." Tada murmured something that sounded a lot like 'flowers to a suicide' but he didn't elaborate, not even when Tsukuda narrowed her eyes at him. They just sat together in silence for a while longer, looking up at the tree branches against the sky. Then, Tada got up slowly, dusting the dirt and a few leaves from his clothes, before extending a hand out to Tsukuda. She glared.

"I can get up myself, you know."

"Oh, I know." He responded easily. "But don't you know that even the Protector of the Small needs protecting too, Hanae-Chan?"

She had no response for that. None at all. She just gazed at that hand that had anchored her so many times already during the school year, and let a new sort of feeling attempt to fill up what had been scraped out of her today. And as she did that, she accepted his hand and let him help her up.

"Thank you." She said simply. Gratefully. He nodded at her and they started walking back down to the building, their fingers still intertwined.

"Ah, I forgot to mention earlier, but Ichijou-sensei is letting Haru make us all cups of tea, and she might find some biscuits too." He told her after they'd walked part the way in silence.

"She is?"

"Yeah, I didn't catch the tail end of the conversation, but I heard Haru putting the idea forward, and it sounded like everyone else was pretty on board with that."

"Mhm…..but won't that take a long time? And why biscuits?" Tsukuda had a vision of a geisha carrying out a full-on tea ceremony, and the resulting bowls of green matcha tea. Tada laughed at her confusion.

"Not tea in that sense, Hanae-Chan. Tea with milk, made with tea bags, in a mug. You know, like 'oooh, let's kick back and have a cuppa', that sort of thing. Tea's a nice way to wind down after a long day, or even just a bad chunk of a day."

"'Have a cuppa?'" Tsukuda let out another laugh that surprised her. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. I think it'll help….after that assembly." Tada slanted a sideways look at her, assessing. Tsukuda just returned it straight on. She needed to be strong, she knew that. But…. _even the Protector of the Small needs protecting sometimes._ And damned if she didn't need someone to look out for her, no matter how much she didn't want it.

"Mhm, yeah. Say, Tada, sorry for….well, you know. Having you come out for…." She gestured at herself sheepishly, trying to laugh off what must have been an all too vivid image of despair. Vivid, as her terror still clung to her, as the knowledge that they were still unsafe and that the notions of justice had been perverted by one new school rule did.

"No apologies, Hanae-Chan." Tada firmly resolved. "I came to you because I chose to. And in any case….that time when I needed to break away, I feel like I would have wanted someone to look for me, too."

Tsukuda just nodded respectfully at this, knowing full well what Tada referred to. _I'd have followed, if I hadn't been excluded._ The soppiness of such a conviction made a blush light her cheeks, so she clamped it down solidly, and they continued making their way down. As they got closer to the end, she let go of Tada's hand, sticking both of hers in the pockets of her tied blazer. Tada moved forward a little, and greeted Tsuwabuki, who was coming out of his end of the forest with a spade, some markers and an empty bag. The two boys exchanged brief and sober conversation, and then they formed a trio to enter the building, picking up Kinomoto on the way.

Once they were in the single corridor, they encountered Haru, who was carrying a tray with about ten or so mismatched mugs on them, all filled with pale brown liquid. Tea, as in a 'cuppa'. There were also saucers with a variety of biscuits and cookies.

"Ah, you're here. This is the first tray, and I need to get the other. Maybe one of you could take this in and start handing out the cups and saucers while I go back for the other one?"

"Oh, I'll do it!" Kinomoto stepped eagerly up to the task and took the tray from Haru, who promptly turned back to get the other. Kinomoto then went on ahead of them as they entered the classroom, putting the tray on Ichijou's desk and then going and delivering the tea and biscuits to each desk. Ichijou, on her part, was busy writing up starter-type notes onto the blackboard, and she turned to nod and beam at them as they entered.

As Tada and Tsukuda took their seats, she noted the different ways in which the other members of her class showed their own unrest. Jori paced near the front of the classroom, arms flailing in angry gestures as she protested to a bemused Fuyumi, Koujiro and Azama, variations of the phrase 'getting away with it' reaching Tsukuda's ears. Izzy was hard at work with his fingers flying across the keys of his laptop as usual, but with his face set in a hard stone expression as opposed to the cheeky devil demeanour he usually donned. Kuroba sat on Izzy's desk peering over, somehow seeming more intense. Ruko stood in the middle of the classroom mainlining sweets at a faster rate than usual, not looking as though she was enjoying the sweets at all. Kitabayashi was muttering in furious, even more indecipherable phrases of what could only be English. Yukiyama was listening to music as he was wont to do, but had curled up in his seat, fending off an invisible attack. Hana was folding an origami crane out of purple paper, three already complete on her desk, and a small stack of sheets of paper waiting. When she looked up and saw Tsukuda, her face broke out into a sweet honey-soft smile, and she got up and floated over to them, still holding the half-done crane.

"Hanae-san! You're back…..wait, did you go anywhere?" Hana's eyes widened in a way that made her looked baffled, and even more lost than her default. Tsukuda shook her head in amazement, and ruffled the younger girl's hair.

"It's fine. I'll look after you." She reassured genuinely. "Nice bird, by the way. You making enough for a wish?"

" _Two_ wishes. "

"Yeah? That's a lot of birds."

"The wishes are worth it." Hana stated with conviction. Tsukuda nodded, she didn't doubt that at all. At that moment, Haru came in with the tray and headed to Tada and Tsukuda, who each reached over to take their cups and saucers before thanking her.

"Hana-san, did you get tea and biscuits yet?" Haru inquired. Hana looked over at her desk, and shook her head.

"Well then, you may take one from here." Hana obliged and went back to her seat, while Haru continued on to supply those who hadn't got it yet with sustenance. Tsukuda sipped at her tea, enjoying the warmth. And as she did, she watched the others approach their tea, and what it did to them. Quietening them, slowing them down, easing frown lines, softening mouths, relaxing shoulders and quelling shivers.

 _Does this mean we have a chance of being okay?_ She beseeched Tada with her eyes, pleading for an answer. His own lines, gentle already, softened sympathetically and he nodded once, with conviction.

 _I sure hope so_.

"Ah, thank you, Ichinose-san!" Ichijou accepted her own tea as she put down her chalk. Haru went to sit down, and those not in their seats made their way there. Ichijou stood and drank her tea, clearly ready to start the lesson, but not bothering to hurry them along. Rather, she sipped and observed, as if trying to memorise their faces, as if trying to get their measure. But in a kind way. _As if she will try her best to stand for us, even if she isn't much good at anything._

"All right then. I think we can begin the lesson. You can all finish at your own pace, and when I set an independent task I'll collect in the mugs and plates of those of you who have finished. And whoever is doing cleaning duty in this class today can deal with the rest afterwards. Will that work?" Ichijou pronounced, clasping her mug and making sure to have eye contact with each and every one of them. Her gaze went hazy with pity when it reached Tsukuda, and all she found herself able to do was give a watery smile back as she chorused her assent with the rest of the class. With that, Ichijou put her mug down on the desk, picked the chalk back up and started the lesson, talking about various reproductive cycles.

As she talked, Tsukuda wrote notes and listened diligently, but her mind kept circling back to the fear that was prominent. _They're going to kill us._ It would be a lie to say that she wasn't scared anymore, because she was, still, but here, with Tada at the desk next to her and this cup of tea, she felt better able to handle it. She snuck a glance at her good friend and fellow class rep.

 _I hope we'll be fine to-_ Her brain drove to a halt, as she came to a standstill. She snuck another look at Tada, who was busy concentrating on the biology lesson, and felt another new feeling inside her, one she couldn't name. Back in the forest, just before she'd broken enough to sob her heart out, Tada had called her by name. But not the nickname, and not with any honorific. Just _Hanae_. And as someone who seemed to adhere to honorifics fairly strongly, that was unusual. He probably hadn't noticed, though. Yet…now she was thinking about it, replaying his voice, she found that she liked it. A lot.

Feeling herself go more than a little pink out of bashfulness- _why am I making such a big deal of this?-_ , she quickly diverted her gaze from him back to the board, and picked up her mug and held it to her face as she watched Ichijou draw a diagram. _Meh, at least it is something new to brood on._ But she still dwelt on that one little detail, over and over. And she found herself silently making a wish based on that one little detail, over, and over.

 _Call me by my name again, Tada._

* * *

 **Just casually throwing in the British-tea-drinkers stereotype there LOL. I do like being British. But yeah, anyway, the Tsukuda-POV section in particular was very visceral for me. I do hope I conveyed the different aspects of it correctly, or rather, well enough. And I apologise for my lazy chapter title. I couldn't think of a better one after all that =P.**


	26. Memory Box

**Grr I hate revision. Well, maybe 'hate' is a little too vehement but it's still freaking tedious. Oh well. What needs to be done needs to be done.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas day! Here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

As soon as the final lesson had ended and Ichijou had bustled off, they closed ranks with only one question in mind, which Tada voiced for them all.

"So, what do we do now?"

The atmosphere as they all looked at each other was a sober one, still heavy with the weight of the bombshell that had been dropped on them. They all looked at each other, nobody willing to be the first to answer. _They're going to kill us,_ Tsukuda had said. Tada wanted to believe in the good of people, but even he could see the truth in that possibility.

"We should continue the way we've been continuing!" Jori burst out eventually, clearly seeking to dispel the fog. "Why do we need to skulk around because of …because of….."

"That scumbag." Haru helpfully provided. Everyone gawped at her. At that, she blushed and dipped her head.

"I…I'll just put away the rest of the stuff….everyone else finished?"

Reno, Reimiya and some of others handed over their mugs and saucers, and Haru deposited them on the remaining tray before scooting off with those. Tada sighed and ran a hand through his curly hair.

"Certainly, we shouldn't give into them, like Jori-Chan said." Tada continued.

"But in a way, the stakes are higher, so we do need to make some changes." Eriko finished, teeth gritted. "Although we really shouldn't have to."

"What was the point of that sort of statement anyway?" Hirigi wondered. "I mean, they never believe us anyway. "

"That is certainly true." Ruko nodded through a mouthful of Smarties.

"They want to unsettle us, weaken us." Kuroba explained frostily. "If they can make us feel that we're in danger just from being in school then we'll give up. Submit. That's what they want."

"So do you think Principal Okikura knows about Ending the End Class?!" Ayako spluttered all of a sudden, alarmed. Tada shook his head, resolutely. He didn't think that was the case at all. Sure, Hasegawa knew, that seemed fairly clear by now. But not Okikura. So he voiced this, earning more than a few confused looks.

"But then….why?" Hirigi wanted to know.

"My guess is Kyoto." Tada said, still mostly speculating and making no effort to hide that. "I think that annoyed him enough to think that he needed to find a way to restrict us. And no doubt when he next touched base with Hasegawa-kun and Otsuka-Chan they might have subtly steered him in the direction of…well…what we heard today."

"They were pretty damn quick if that was the case." Koujiro observed casually, shrugging heavily.

"So?" Reno fumed. "That doesn't EXPLAIN anything! And we still need to worry about what's going to happen to ourselves, and each other…" At this, he looked at Reimiya, askance, but she didn't seem to notice, as she was staring at them all fixedly, absorbed in the conversation, looking terrified but resolved. Tada found that made him smile, on the inside, just a little.

"Surely cleaning duty is the best place to start?" Haru came back and stood next to Hirigi. "Tsukuda-san and Tada-kun, you're going on main-building cleaning duty, right?"

"Yes. And Azama-kun, Kitabayashi-kun and Yamada-kun, just like we all discussed by email yesterday." Tada wondered if Tsukuda would be okay with that though. He turned to her to ask that question silently, and she tipped her head to the side slightly, her fringe shielding her eyes slightly before she brushed it away.

"Yeah, that won't change."

"But an odd number isn't that safe, is it?" Koujiro pointed out. "After all, I presume you'd have to split it up so one was alone, given all the places you need to do. "

"We'll keep tabs on each other." Tsukuda said, instantly. Tada sighed, and looked at her. _I told you, didn't I, it's okay to be the helped sometimes, not just the helper?_ Sensing his disappointment, Tsukuda shrugged and then smiled softly, as if telling him that it didn't mean she just had to stop. And as that was something he could relate to, he let it go and focused on the point that was at hand, even if part of him was still honed in on making sure she was fine.

"Well…perhaps one other person could come with us?" Of course, as soon as he said it, he knew it was ridiculous. And indeed, the rest of the class just stared at him like he was insane. _Well, duh, who would put themselves up for such a thing?_

"I'll come."

"Eh?" Everyone turned to stare at Reimiya, utterly flummoxed. She blushed a little and hunched under her scarf, but she showed no signs that she hadn't meant what she said. Instead, she turned so she was facing Tada.

"I'll come." She repeated.

"Miya-Chan!" Reno protested, flailing. "You can't….that isn't…I….." Reno spluttered and gave up, but clearly looked unhappy about the entire thing. And it wasn't that difficult to figure out why. Reimiya, on the other hand, had no such issues, and she was not about to back down. That much was clear.

"Then, I'll pair with Yamada-san." She said. Then, she pointed to Kitabayashi and Azama before turning to Tada and Tsukuda. "You two can go together, and finally, you two. Easy. "

"That does sound good, Reimiya-Chan." Tada nodded. "Only if you are sure, though."

"I am!" Reimiya responded, clearly put out that Tada had stared at her, and then sighed, shaking his head.

"Then I will come along, too." He declared. "I can't let you go alone."

"But surely that just repeats the problem again." Azama queried as he hopped off the desk he'd been sitting on. Reno fixed a cold gaze onto the boy.

"Not if we are a trio." He said, gesturing to himself, then Yamada, then Reimiya. Then, he turned to Tada.

"If I can't tag along, then Miya-Chan can't either. It won't be safe. Sorry."

"Ah, it's fine. Having more hands will be better, right?" Tsukuda flapped a hand at him tiredly, and then looked at Tada for confirmation. He silently groaned, and decided to concede. _More hands are better, right?_

"Yes, it will be. But in any case, we should all probably head off now- it's going to be troublesome for Haru-Chan and Kaori-Chan to clear up here if we're all blocking up, and we need to make our way to the building if we are going to be there on time to start on the homerooms- so let's talk about things tomorrow. "

"Like our next steps?" Kuroba wanted to know.

"Just like that." Tada promised. "If any of you can think of anything, by all means note it down to let us know later. Anyway, Hanae-Chan, everyone else, let's set off to where we need to be."

 **…**

Ueno was not feeling things that evening. Pretty much as soon as he'd got home he'd gone straight to his desk, only stopping to change from school uniform into comfortable home clothes. And since then, he'd been studying. For the biology pop quiz, then for one in Social Studies, which he wasn't great at, and then he needed to rewrite the notes for English because he hadn't managed to understand the lesson the first time around, and his grades were getting too close to the cut-off point which would mean that….which would mean that….. _Ugh, dammit. I can't end up in 3E, I can't. There is too much to lose here._

But all the same, he just couldn't make himself focus. No matter what he did, no matter how sternly he told himself off, he just could not. He thought about shoving the words at Aimi to see what she made of it, given that she was a bit of a whiz at English (even if, as a big brother, he was biased there), but that just would not do. After all, she had her own work, not to mention that she was just a child anyway. Hell, it was still a while before his mum would have to worry about her middle school arrangements. _Although, if Mum lets me have any input, I know that there's one place I'll tell her to_ not _consider._ So, he held the pen firmly in his hand, feeling the smooth plastic tube dig into his fingers, hoping that the sensation would prompt the action of writing. But of course, it didn't.

" _Geez, Shou-Chan! If you're not feeling it, why are you bothering?"_

 _Ruko whipped the pen out of his hand and began to spin it skilfully around her own fingers, grinning as she did so. Ueno stared at her, jaw hanging open. Then, he pulled himself together and reached forward to try and get the pen back._

" _Ruko-kun, give that back, I'm studying!"_

 _Ruko just mock-pouted and stepped neatly out of the way, still spinning the pen._

" _But we're meant to be playing! And no, don't say anything about entrance exams. Nuh-uh, don't want to hear it! Aaaaaaaaaaaand you look like you're nodding off. So come on…."_

 _Ueno ran a hand through his hair and regarded the practise exam paper, noticing the fact that the winter sun brightened the paper impossibly. Noticing the sun made him think that it was a weekend….and the entrance exams were still a couple of months away….and even if it was chilly, he didn't want to be sitting here, not really. And with that, he gave up and stood. Ruko grinned smugly, tilting her head at him so her curls bounced._

" _Fine then. Let's go out to play. You can teach me how to do that pen thing you're doing…..by the way, when did you even learn to do that?"_

" _Oh, I was looking at some YouTube tutorials during maths on Thursday. I was bored."_

" _RUKO-KUN!"_

Ueno found himself laughing at the memory of that winter, before he then remembered that he didn't have the luxury of such a relief this time. Because they'd drifted apart this year…..because he'd left her behind. _Because of Kunugigaoka,_ was the thought he knew was true but still couldn't bring himself to acknowledge, not even as he got up and headed to his cupboard to find his memory box.

Once he had found it, he sat on his carpet and plonked it in front of him. The memory box was a large wooden box slightly smaller than an apple crate. He'd wrapped his up in old gold-and-silver starry Christmas wrapping paper his mum had saved from a couple of years before getting the box, and then he'd calligraphed his full name across the lid in black ink. Aimi's memory box was covered in all sorts of differently coloured papers, all cut to look like jigsaw pieces. Souji-the reason that the children in the Ueno household had memory boxes in the first place- was obviously not old enough to be able to decorate a box himself, but that time would come soon. Ueno had personally promised himself that he would sit down with Souji and help the younger child to decorate the box how he saw fit. Thinking of this, he stared at the decoration he'd spent so long on last year, before opening the box and looking into it.

There were all manners of things in there- an essay he'd won a prize for, some certificates and medals, a tiny wind-up toy chicken, some attractive sweet wrappers, a couple of stuffed toys he hadn't been able to throw away when he'd made the move to middle school, film posters ripped out from newspapers, old comics, a letter his dad had written before leaving them all behind, a bright pink scrunchie, one of those pens that looked like a one-legged feathery bird, a pair of old, worn baby booties and various Christmas cards. And photos. All manner of photos. Official school ones, photos from special occasions, and lots of candid ones. It was these photos, the candids in particular, that he pulled out of the memory box and looked at specifically. And even more specifically, he had sought out the ones that contained Ruko.

Naturally, in most of them she was either pulling ridiculous faces or not even posing at all at the time of the snap. Only a few were proper posed shots, like the one from the New Year her parents hadn't been home. And in some, even those from the beginning of their friendship, had her clutching onto a camera, taking some snap or other, and almost drooling over it. In a sense, they were pictures within pictures. Ueno wondered where those pictures were, and was just about to reach for his phone and ask her, when he remembered with a sudden hard mental smack – _I can't do that._

"Shou-nii!" Ueno looked up to see Souji toddle through the door, his arms outstretched in anticipation of a hug, and so he quickly dumped the pictures in a messy pile atop the other contents of the memory box. He could rearrange them properly later. Quickly, he reached forward to grab the giggling and wobbling Souji, and then plonked the toddler on his lap, tickling his belly as he did so to make him giggle.

"Whatcha doin, Shou-nii?" Souji asked, looking up merrily, tiny hands clinging to Ueno's clothes. Ueno tickled him again, and then proceeded to explain about the memory box as best as he could without confusing or accidentally scaring him. That meant a lot of cutting out, but Souji was blissfully oblivious and seemed to enjoy the talk, until all of a sudden he let go of Ueno and turned to launch at the memory box.

"Sou-kun, no, don't touch!" he wrapped Souji in a big bear hug so he wouldn't be able to reach out. Naturally, he squirmed and whined about it, but Ueno was gentle and firm.

"You can't touch, Sou-kun, you might damage the box, or the things inside. They are very fragile so you must be careful. Okay?"

"Noooooo! Ru-ru! Want Ru-ru!" Souji squirmed and wriggled even more, trying to point at something.

"What are you….oh? Oh, right." Ueno glanced at the messy pile of photos, and realised one was facing upwards. One of Ruko, at the beginning of the summer term last year. She was holding the camera up to take a photo, so her face was slightly obscured, but the hair and the eye and the half of the grin that could be seen were all undeniably Ruko. As he had taken the shot, he knew that Ruko had a picture of him with a camera half covering his face somewhere in her house. _Ahhh._

"No more Ru-ru?" Souji mournfully asked, clearly picking up on Ueno's dip in mood. He started to nod, and then for some reason caught himself.

"I'm not so sure of that, Sou-kun. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place."

"Shou-nii stuck?" Souji seemed to pick up on some of what Ueno had said, which made him chuckle, and at that moment, Aimi burst in through the door.

"Souji! You naughty boy! I told you not to disturb Nii-san!" Aimi skidded to a halt in the middle of the room, and stared down at Ueno, surprised.

"Oh. Your memory box." Aimi blinked, and then plopped herself down next to Ueno. Souji giggled and clapped his hands a couple of times before launching himself at the little girl, who grabbed at him acceptingly.

"I was letting him play with my teddies while I was doing my homework-then I remembered I left the felt-tips downstairs so I left him there while I went to get them and then I came back and he wasn't there so maybe I thought he went to the playroom but…why are you looking through the memory box anyway, Nii-san?"

Aimi's babble faded away and she narrowed her eyes at him seriously. The look contrasted with the way her hair-still somehow in the two bunches it had been in that morning- was impressively tousled from playing in the park with friends on the way back from school. This made Ueno laugh as he messed her hair further by ruffling it.

"No real reason, Aimi, it's fine." He reassured. "How's the homework? Is it okay? Do you need help?"

"Ah no, don't be silly, it's all fine for me you know, just the same old same old….but you're not fine Nii-san."

"And what makes you think that?" he asked, mildly. Aimi just gave him another exaggeratedly serious look, and pointed at the photo pile. Ueno put a hand to his face in a more sedate form of a face-palm, and then went to pick up the pile and settle it in his now vacant pile, and picked up the Ruko-taking-her-own-picture photograph and held it. Aimi leaned over to scrutinise it, paying no heed to the way Souji was using her as some kind of mountain sofa.

"Who are those people with you and Ruko-nee-san?" she leaned over and plucked off the next photo in the messy pile. When she did, Ueno's heart travelled up to his mouth. It was a selfie printed off the computer- one of him and Ruko, but also Tada, Ayako, Kinomoto, Haru and Hiro. Ayako, who was right at the end, on Ruko's other side, was the one who had taken the photo, on that day they'd attended the study group that Tada had organised. Tada, the new boy with the sad eyes and open mind. _Tada-kun, who was a good friend, too, before all this._ He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about what else he'd had before 3E changed it all.

"Just some people I used to talk to. They go to my school."

"So they're classmates of yours and Ruko-nee-san's?"

"No, not classmates." _That's the whole issue._ "Just the same school."

"OH, okay. You're still not talking to Ruko-nee-san, are you?" Suddenly, Aimi stood up and planted her hands on her hips, letting the printed out photo flutter to the ground. Souji, surprised by the sudden action, stumbled and fell on his bottom, but rather than crying, he blinked dazedly up at Aimi. Ueno blinked in a similar manner.

"You're not, are you, Nii-san?" Not wanting to lie, Ueno just nodded faintly. Aimi let out such an exasperated huff of air, Ueno found himself surprised at the fact that Aimi was still only in fourth grade.

"Why?"

"Why…I, well now, it's complicated, you know, especially because of school…." Ueno hedged, not sure what to say, because Aimi didn't need to worry about Kunugigaoka. Apart from his existence, she didn't have anything to do with that place, and that was how it should be. _It'll be so much better. Then she won't ever get to be as torn as I am right now._

"Pfft, school. Nii-san, you know I love you right?" Aimi burst out randomly as she re-tied her bunches. Ueno blinked again. Clearly, his off-day feelings were contaminating the rest of his cognitions.

"Well of course."

"Except, you're a really, really, really huge idiot!" Aimi pouted impressively at this, leaving one bunch untied to plant her hands on her little hips again. "And if you don't know why you're a big idiot, then you're a MASSIVE, MASSIVE IDIOT. Okay?"

"Okay….." Ueno shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and then shrugged. "I guess I'm a massive idiot then."

"Yes, Nii-san, you are." Aimi nodded solemnly. "But like I said, I love you anyway and do you need help sorting out the photographs?"

"Huh? Oh, no. It's alright, Aimi. I wouldn't want to take up more of your time." He smiled at her vaguely, but she wasn't buying it.

"….Nii-san, you need to lighten up. But okay, whatever, that's fine." She went back to tying her hair, and once she had, she returned her attention to Souji.

"Souji, come, let's go back to play in my room!"

"Ai, carry me!" he commanded, holding out his little arms and giggling. Aimi rolled her eyes exaggeratedly but knelt down to carry Souji, who gleefully treated her as if she was a tree trunk by wrapping himself around her, nearly dwarfing her torso in the process. Aimi took it cheerfully enough, and half-sauntered, half stumbled out of the room. Ueno watched them go, and once he had, he turned back to the photographs, and looked at the faces of Ruko and his other friends. _Can I even consider them my friends right now? I know I would be able to with no hesitations. if they came back to the main campus but….that doesn't look like that will even happen. Not the way things seem to be. Ah, but I miss them._

As he sorted through the pictures, he found himself looking back at his desk, at all the school work and revision that cheerfully taunted him as it waited for him to return. But he decided to stay where he was and sift through the memories from the memory box. He'd pull an all-nighter, or something. But for now, he needed to wallow in all of this confusion and loneliness and nostalgia. He needed to.

Because maybe this way he'd be able to figure out why he was a massive idiot, and what to do about it.

 **…**

Adjusting to their new level of in-school neglect was a rocky process, as none of them wanted to accept that such dismissiveness was possible, and certainly Eriko didn't want to believe that teachers, so called responsible adults, could condone it. Well, Ichijou didn't seem to condone it, as such, but all she really did was constantly remind them that they could go to her if they wanted to ask or tell her something. This was vaguely reassuring, but didn't really help. _She's one of the staff, so she should know that she'd have more power in this type of thing than we do._

So they subtly checked in their own behaviour in all sorts of different ways. When traveling to and from school, and when on cleaning duty on the main campus, they always made sure they were in pairs or small groups. Eriko, Tsukuda and Tada each became more fervent in the self-taught P.E lessons, Haru brought in cans of pepper spray for all of them to carry, as well as tiny personal alarms, and Izzy diverted his obsession about the 3E of 30 years prior to try and see if he could find anything on Principal Okikura or even Hasegawa that would persuade him to repeal. _Condoning hacking and blackmail is surely the lesser evil here, right?_ And collectively, they all tried to avoid the main campus student as much as possible- difficult, given Tada and Hana's sisters, but all the same, that was how it was. It shouldn't have to be, though.

But all the same, they were hoping that it wouldn't last, that once they'd pleaded their cases then at least things could go back to normal. 3E life wasn't exactly anything great, but this….this thick, cloying fear was different, so completely and utterly different…but it wouldn't last. That's what she'd thought and held onto for the whole of the week.

But nothing had come of it.

No, instead, during the next school council meeting, they had tried to bring up the problem, and Tsukuda had become really impassioned when explaining why it wasn't right, and even cleverly bringing in the point about the school not being above the law, but of course, it hadn't worked. Hasegawa sidestepped things and just talked about school rules and discipline, and Otsuka naturally took pleasure in mocking their fear. _Is Otsuka-san going to get over things? She's already above me, isn't she?_ And of course, none of the other representatives tried to chip in, although Asami did cuttingly point out that Tsukuda's point about the law was correct, which had caused the male class rep of 3A- _Otonashi-san, was it?-_ to look at her in a baffled way and for the tiny first-year rep Endou to nod firmly. But even so, as usual, the meeting was a pointless affair from the 3E perspective, and all they had really done was take up seats. _We may as well have just skipped, but no…._

"Eri-Chan?"

Eriko rubbed her eyes and gawked at Kaori, the sun shining in her eyes. Sighing irritably, she shifted over so she could see better, and let herself take in those she was currently conversing with- Tada, Tsukuda, Kaori, Ayako, Hana, Kuroba, Izzy, Akira and Reimiya. Then, she poked at one of her bento box omelettes with her chopsticks before lifting it up.

"What was that?" she asked, putting the omelette in her mouth, but not pulling the chopstick away.

"We were talking about the possibility of expanding the blog campaign with something hand done." Tada explained.

"Like a poster." Hana put in "Or leaflets. Something to be handed out. "

"Or even if there are online ways of expanding. Like an equivalent Facebook page, or YouTube channel? Or even Nico Nico!" Ayako said, her eyes sparking with ideas that Eriko couldn't even begin to fathom. She blinked, slowly, trying to drag herself out of the pessimism so she could join in properly.

"….why would we be using video sharing websites?" _Pfft, that's a start, I guess._ Eriko put the chopstick down and began to munch on the omelette.

"We have stacked up a few personal videos so far this year, but I haven't put them on the blog yet. I've mostly been doing text posts, photograph posts, the comment-mocking posts and links to other relevant stuff. But I was thinking, if we had a video sharing channel, I could put them up, and then we could set up mock interviews with each other, and we could even set up proper interviews with other people who also don't want 3E to continue. Like, I'm sure Isogai-san and the others would be on board with that, right?"

Ayako directed this last bit at Tada, who nodded.

"Admittedly, I think they'd want to keep the mentoring side of things secret for now, especially since it is still relatively early, but they'd put their names to something like that. "

"Well, their knowledge could always be explained through the fact that you knew them already, right?" Reimiya suggested.

"I'd imagine so." Kaori commented. Again, Tada nodded at this, but said no more on the matter. Eriko nodded too.

"That sounds good." She said, covering her mouth with one hand as she spoke, since she was still munching. "They could always link us up with other former 3E members, like how we met Fumiko-sempai because of them."

"I can do the same thing." Izzy querulously pointed out. Tsukuda slapped the back of his head lightly, but aside from that they all neatly sidestepped that particular comment. Kuroba seemed disapproving of this, letting a condescending huff of air as his red eyes hardened, but the fact he still seemed willing to see where their conversation would go next was a good sign. Eriko found that rather relieving.

"Still, is it as if we need to choose one over the other, in terms of whether we go for posters or other forms of social media? Surely we could do both….like having the posters advertise the online stuff?"

" .Gosh. Reimiya-san, you are brilliant!" Ayako glomped Reimiya, causing her to shriek and then giggle. Tada sighed fondly and ran a hand through his hair. Eriko noted that some colour was returning to his complexion, which was good. When they'd been leaving the building after the Class Representatives meeting, he had seemed the most depleted out of the most of them, in much the same way Tsukuda had been the most profoundly affected student when the announcement about the rule had first been made on Monday. Eriko doubted that he'd noticed that he'd needed to lean on Tsukuda to walk back up, given the way he was trying to hold it all in.

"What I really want to do…." He started, and then paused, looking down at the ground and scuffing it with his shoe before looking back up at them and continuing. "I want to draw attention to what Principal Okikura said on Monday….and not just the reactions to it. I want what he said to be made clear. It needs to sink in. "

"I can take care of that."

Every single head whipped around to a very stoic Akira, who, up until then, had just been studying the proceedings while sitting cross-legged on the grass, her notebook in her lap but not in use. She regarded them coolly, but didn't say anything. Instead, she dipped a hand in one of her sweater pockets and seemed to pull something out. A corner of it glinted silvery grey, but Akira kept her hand around it as she fiddled for a moment. And then, Okikura's voice rang out into the afternoon.

"Now, for an announcement of school rules. As you know, especially if you are 3E, misbehaviour and violence are not tolerated in this school at all, and you are all expected to adhere to that. Unfortunately, I've had far too many reports of these rules been broken time and time again. But yet the culprits never seem to want to take responsibility for this. "

Akira made a brief motion with her finger, and the voice stopped, mercifully not continuing. _It's still so raw._ Then, she adjusted her hold on what she was gripping to reveal a silver, rectangular gadget with a cord that looped around Akira's wrist. A digital recorder.

"Well, well, well." Kuroba slow clapped as he inclined his head to Akira in a respectful manner. "I'm almost ashamed of myself for not thinking of that myself. Clever thinking, Akira. "

Eriko did a double take. _Did Kuroba-san, of all people, seriously just say that out of his own volition?!_ Unsurprisingly, the others looked a little stunned too, although whether this was because of Kuroba or Akira was not clear.

"Kiyomi, how did you manage to do that?" Reimiya gasped, wide-eyed. Akira shrugged and started to go red.

"I-it wasn't such a big deal. It's not as if this is an original idea or anything. And a recorder this size is easy to hide. But it makes sense to have auditory evidence too, right?"

"Yeah, it definitely does!" Reaching over, a beaming Tada reached over and ruffled Akira's hair affectionately. "That's brilliant stuff, Akira-Chan! Thank you!"

This seemed to make Akira tomato-up even more, and she shoved the recorder at Tada before wriggling out of reach and opening up her notebook. She then produced a pen from somewhere and neatly took herself away from the centre of attention without actually moving away.

"If we post a copy of that online, or send it direct to Principal Okikura, then that would probably weigh in on our favour. " Kaori said.

"Nuh-uh." Kuroba opposed. "It's far too soon for that."

"It is?" Tsukuda raised an eyebrow, then flashed a can-you-believe-this look at Tada.

"No, that makes sense, actually." Eriko spoke up. "Surely it's better to take things slowly, and not show everything that we have straight away? Keep our cards close to the chest, so to speak. That's what you meant, Kuroba-san, right?"

"Good to see someone else here still has their head screwed on right." _I'll just take that as a yes, then…_

"I suppose that makes sense, I guess." Tada thought for a moment, then clapped his hands together once, loudly and with a big smile. "Back-ups!"

"Huh?" they all stared at him. Eriko couldn't speak for the others exactly, but she was sure that they knew what he was saying. The issue was more the delivery of the epiphany. Tada let his hands back down to his sides and blinked back at them, clearly just as baffled. _We are so weird._

"Yep, back-ups are always good. Akira-Chan, maybe you should give that recorder to Tada?" Izzy suggested, causing the girl to look up at him and glare, her dark blue eyes seeming to glow with the indignation.

"This is _my_ recorder!"

"Surely it would make more sense to send around the actual file to as many people as possible, then maybe download it onto a couple of different things?" Ayako pointed out.

"That could be how Isogai-san and the others then contribute." Kaori nodded at this. "And this way, Akira-san could keep her recorder."

"Surely it may be more prudent to have the recording on some sort of portable device and not just on computers and the like?" Eriko queried. "No, wait, USB sticks. That could work! So, Akira-san, would you be more comfortable in emailing it to everyone in the class, then either myself, Tada-san or Tsukuda-san could download it on a USB to then give to Isogai-san and Maehara-san. "

"And my aunt." Now, everyone swivelled to Tsukuda, who held out her arms in an appeasing gesture.

"My aunt's a lawyer. And she taught me everything I know and stand for. I want her onside. "

"That sounds like an idea to me." Tada was the first to recover and therefore agree. "I have someone like that, who is also a lawyer. She isn't actually my aunt, but I call her as such. And she was in the same class as my mum."

"Oh, is that so?" Tsukuda asked. "That sounds cool. Hey, maybe we should drop in on them personally to do this delivery, like at the weekend. What's your mum's friend's law firm?"

"Kanehara and Itsuki."

"Uwahh, that's a coincidence!" Since it didn't take a genius to work out what was so coincidental, Tsukuda didn't clarify. "Guess it saves us a journey then, when we do this."

"Mhm…I think Aunt Rio's on vacation though….she might be back by now….I can't remember. Ah, never mind. Anyway, Akira-Chan, how about that? Can you do that tonight?"

"Yes, sure. And I'll email it to Kataoka-san, too?"

"Yes, that's right." Eriko nodded.

"Kyaaa, okay! Now we've finished all that, can we go back to the social media please?" Ayako demanded. "What are we going to do then, hmmm?"

"I liked the idea of posters, to be honest." Eriko said. Akira, Reimiya and Hana all nodded at this. "That being said, I think having a Facebook page or something to that end would be good."

"Who's going to actually make the posters though?" Kuroba pointed out. "It's all very well faffling about it, but can you actually make it happen?"

"I can do that!" Reimiya volunteered. "I like to draw things. "

"I can help too." Akira silently asserted, looking up from her notebook. "Micchan and I can work together."

"Would it not be better to create posters professionally though?" Eriko wondered, thinking things over and trying to see them from different angles.

"That would be rather expensive though, and besides, what places would do that?" Tada wondered. _It's a good question- I don't know anything about that kind of thing._

"I know a good art shop that's in my area." Kitabayashi came around from the corner, holding a puzzle book in one hand and a pencil with broken lead in the other.

"You do?" Tada asked quickly to avoid the awkwardness their collective surprise could result in. Kitabayashi seemed to rear back a little, but nodded slowly.

"They do all sorts of different things that are all kind of arty. And the owner sort of knows my family. I think he'd be willing to give an opinion on something like that…." Kitabayashi fiddled with the broken pencil and refused to look them in the eye.

"Kiyomi, maybe it's worth a visit?" Reimiya inquired. Akira nodded at that.

"I'd come too! Would you let me?" Hana asked, almost bouncing with the excitement of the possibility.

"Sure you can, Hana-san! I'm certainly tagging along!" Ayako declared. "Hey, Kitabayashi-san, think you can take us there some point during the weekend?"

"W-what? Why?" Spluttering in English, Kitabayashi looked alarmed as he shuffled backwards a little bit more. Eriko sighed deeply.

"Just text one of the Class Representatives the address, then we can deal with that. Do you know the name of the shop owner? The shop itself?"

"The shop is called All Is Possible. I can't remember the name of the guy though…..something beginning with S? Ah, shite, I don't know." Kitabayashi seemed to respond better to the direct questions, his posture loosening a little. It took Eriko a moment to catch up with the 'beginning with S' comment, and she rubbed her head. _I'm tired._

"Can I go back inside to sharpen my pencil now?" Kitabayashi demanded. Eriko sighed and flapped a hand in an away gesture as a sign of assent. Just like that, Kitabayashi scurried off, all too eager.

"Don't forget the address!" Eriko called after his back. Once he was gone, she sighed again and turned back to the others.

"So…that will be Takashita-san, Akira-san, Reimiya-san and Hana-san taking care of social media expansion and posters this weekend?"

"Me, too. I'm onlining." Izzy piped up, chipper. Eriko restrained a groan- _onlining isn't a word!_

"And, I'll tag along to the art store." Kuroba announced. Everyone's jaw's dropped open in utter surprise. Kuroba just gave them a dark look, and naturally didn't give any insight into what his reasons could be.

"You'd really do that?" Hana gasped, wide-eyed. Kuroba looked down at her with a stare that was hard, but not as cold or dark as the one reserved for everyone else. It made Eriko raise an eyebrow until she remembered that Izzy seemed fond of Hana, as that would explain everything.

"I said so, didn't I?"

"Well, that's still good enough for now. We can tell the others and if one or two others want to tag along and help, let them. "Eriko ordered. "While that's happening, Tada-san, Tsukuda-san, given we're all Representatives, may I tag along with the two of you when you're going lawyer-visiting?"

"Yeah, sure! The more the merrier, that's how the saying goes, right?" Tsukuda said, then, with a little gasp, she pulled out her phone and read the screen before returning to her usual grin. "Ah, Kitabayashi just texted me the address. I'll forward it to you art guys now."

At that point, the discussion splintered, with Reimiya, Akira and Ayako talking about the posters and the possibility of coming up with an idea that night to take to All Is Possible the next day while Hana drifted towards Kuroba and Izzy who were, as usual, deep in discussion about something ridiculously intellectual, if their expressions were anything to go by. Kaori seemed to consider joining Ayako, but instead came and sat down next to Eriko, leaning over and taking the last fried chicken strip from her bento box. When Eriko turned an aggrieved look at her, Kaori responded by popping the chicken into her mouth and smiling a closed-lipped grin. Eriko rolled her eyes and started to work her way through the rice, covering the bento box with her hand between mouthfuls, so that Kaori could not nab anything else.

"So," she turned to Tada and Tsukuda. "The law firm, Kanehara and Itsuki. What time do they open on a Saturday?"


	27. All Is Possible

**HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!**

 **Replies to Guest Reviews:**

 **KuroNeko: This is a combined review reply as I forgot to reply to a review you left a couple of weeks ago. So, anyway, I'm glad you liked the emotional scenes with Tada and Tsukuda and as for Ueno...yes, he is an asshole. But, regarding what happens to him, watch this space, because that isn't all there is to him! Well, not this chapter specifically but I'm guessing you could infer that anyway. Regardless, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **3-E Student: For some reason although I got a notification of your review via email, it doesn't show up on-site. So...yeah, here's your reply- Thank you for the review. The whole court thing isn't necessarily so much what they're hinging their plans on so much as back-up, something to fall back on. Protection, even. Because I think it's fairly obvious they aren't about to give up.**

 **So...rather than the speech-heavy chapters I tend to churn out, this one is rather description heavy, just as a heads-up. Hope you all enjoy it anyway.**

* * *

"Ahhh. I think I understand why this shop is named 'All Is Possible?' Don't you agree, Aoshima-san?"

"Mhm…." Truth be told, Hana was too entranced by the surroundings to engage with Fuyumi's philosophical musings much. She just stepped further into the reasonably quiet shop, and let her gaze sweep around everything, not really heading for anything in particular. And in that way, she found herself noticing a lot of things- the large, cavernous roof painted to look like an ever-changing sky, all soft white clouds and blue expanses on one end, glittering constellations on the other, and everything else from sunsets to storms in between. A huge section that seemed to be devoted to clothes, and the making of said clothes, where one man who looked like he was a worker at the shop discussed various woollen materials with a female customer. The various posters advertising games, festivals, other events, products and shops on one of the walls. There were myriads of different sculptures and origami works perching on shelves and windowsills, or even suspended on wires from the ceiling, one of a brilliant blue bird in flight hovering just above the shoulder of an old man browsing various paint brushes. And then there were the murals, all the murals, all different pictures seeming to bleed into one another, all different styles and themes, yet almost strategically placed to work around shelf sets, or racks, or framed pictures. There just seemed to be so much going on in this shop, and yet it didn't seem too much. It wasn't cloying, or crowded. Sure, it was chaotic but…in a nice way, one that Hana could appreciate. _Oh? Oh, what is that?_

"Hana-san, the main till is over here." Hana turned to the sound of Reimiya's voice. She pointed across the room, causing her stripy scarf to flop slightly over her shoulder. She readjusted it, before tugging at the sleeves of her pastel yellow jumper, waiting for Hana.

"I'll follow. In a moment. I just…" Hana pointed almost helplessly to the mural that had caught her attention, before turning back to look at it. Unlike the other pictures painted directly onto the walls, this wall only held one picture that took up its entire length and width. It showed a line of rooftops of what was presumably a residential street on a sunny afternoon, with some birds flying in the distance, and a few treetops breaking up the sequence of rooftops. In a sense, it would have been an unremarkable scene if it wasn't for the children who were bounding over and across those rooftops, all following each other in this carefree venture.

"Ah, now, that's a sight to behold. Imagine being able to do that one day." Fuyumi remarked, wheeling herself up next to Hana. Again, Hana didn't bother with a response, continuing to gaze up at the impressive painting. _What is it? What is it about this…..?_

Her eyes settled on the soaring children, moving from one end to another. At the right end, three of the children stood on the very last rooftop in the picture. One, a redheaded boy with a nonchalant posture, was the one closest to the painting's end, and he had his body turned to somewhere that the picture did not portray, all while he looked back over his shoulder at the other children. The other two were slightly further in and were completely facing the others- the green-haired girl leaning forward, cupping her hands to her mouth as though calling out to them, while the blue haired child (a boy, if the trousers were the cue) stood straighter, smiling broadly and waving, right behind the green headed girl. There was about a house's gap between these three and the rest of the jumping children. A short haired, athletic girl seemed to be executing some sort of backflip in the air, much to the surprise of a boy with tawny hair who was crouching on the rooftop she had just leapt from and looking up at her with an expression both lusty and respectful.  
Two girls- one with sparkling light green eyes and an innocent face, the other a rather well-endowed girl for her age- descended holding hands, both of them appearing to be shrieking giddily. A relatively average looking boy at the front was serious as he ran across the rooftop, while the kind dark haired boy behind him was turning around and beckoning to the others, seeming to encourage them to continue on. A girl with her silvery-brown hair captured in a large clip was doing a similar thing further down the line, except that she was still in the air, and looked a little more harried as she (presumably) addressed the wide-featured, dazed looking boy wearing a bandanna in his hair that looked as if it was made of mesh. A crouching girl with sharp but pretty features was crouched on the roof, half turning to look up at a boy whose hair covered his eyes as he came down to land behind her. They both had satisfied but dignified smiles on their faces. There were other children asides from these ones, all either jumping, running, landing or preparing, bringing the total number of characters in the picture to about 27, but these ones were the ones who stood out to Hana the most.

She looked around her, at the others who were around. Fuyumi was still next to her, and when she caught Hana's eye she flashed a smile before reaching up to readjust one of the lime-green hair ribbons that matched her dress. Satisfied that the others were ahead, she reached out to touch the picture, and then stopped. Her fingers hesitated just millimetres away from the image of the encouraging boy. Cautious, she let them flutter towards the harried girl, and then to the pretty girl and the hidden-eyed boy, before drifting back to the red-head at the very end of the picture. And then she realised what it was, what one of the many things that bothered her was, and her hand rushed straight back to where it had begun, and tapped lightly against the image of the encouraging boy.

"That's Isogai-san!" she exclaimed. "That's Isogai-san!" she turned to Fuyumi, who stared at her.

"Are you sure? I can see the resemblance, but…." Fuyumi's face scrunched up sceptically, and then she manoeuvred her wheelchair and went towards the others, calling them back. Hana started after her, and then stopped, once again going back to the drawing. Now she had spotted Isogai, she could see Maehara in the look of the boy who was entranced by the athletic girl, and Megu was clearly that harried but supportive girl. And….. _that's Akabane-kun, but it can't be, because this guy has red hair and Akabane-kun has dark purple hair, like a purple night._

"I…I don't understand."

"Ahh, I'm guessing that you're from this year's 3E, aren't you?" Hana whirled around to see Kuroba, Fuyumi, Ayako, Akira, Reno and Reimiya return to her. But they had someone else with them- a tall man, around 45 years old, with silvery-purple hair that didn't seem to be a result of hair dye or old age, thin, beanpole-ish features and body structure, and a simple but tastefully put together dress sense, clashing colours and patterns somehow cooperating. It was a rather spiffy look, Hana decided, but not one she would go for. All the same, she found herself casting a critical eye on her cat-face tights and ruffled mint green dress, as well as pulling down her wide-brimmed hat so she wouldn't be caught casting said critical gaze.

"Does that make any kind of difference?" Kuroba asked coldly. As he did so, he turned towards the painting on the wall and studied it. When he reached the nonchalant redheaded figure, his usually composed gaze became more nonplussed, and his jaw dropped open. But he didn't give the beanpole man a chance to be satisfied by that, and quickly pulled himself together to stare the man down.

"Ah, well, I guess you'd say both yes and no." the beanpole man said. "You see, the young lady here is right."

At this point, he inclined his head respectfully to Hana. _Spiffy._ A little embarrassed, she nodded her acknowledgement, and the man continued.

"Yuuma-kun, Maehara-kun and Megu-Chan are indeed in this picture. And so is _Karma_ Akabane. And….and so am I. Look, right there. "

The man tapped the middle of the picture, and sure enough, the image of the jumping boy did seem to resemble the man pointing at him. _Ohh, another one. Another one of those good people._

"This is Sousuke Sugaya!" Ayako explained, chirpy and oddly proud. "He owns this shop! We just managed to track him down when Fuyumi came racing over concerned about you!"

"Oi, did you need to sound so happy about that?!" Kuroba snapped. Ayako pouted at him stubbornly, and Hana blushed at the attention. Sugaya just laughed.

"Now, now, don't argue, please. Now, to pick off where we'd left off in the introductions…I'm assuming you're Hana-Chan?" When Hana nodded in confirmation Sugaya ploughed on. "From what Reimiya-Chan and Kiyomi-Chan have told me, I hear you're all working on a project of some sort? To do with Kunugigaoka."

"Ending the End Class." Reimiya supplied. Sugaya grinned down at her, causing Reno to give him a fish-eyed look that went thankfully unnoticed. Sugaya then signalled to them, and they began to walk and talk through the shop.

"Yes, that. Great project name, by the way. Yuuma-kun did send around an email to all of us a while back, just letting us know about it. I've looked at the blog a few times- that's great work so far. But I'm guessing that you want to get a bit more awareness and that's why you're here. Did Tada-kun recommend here?"

"Actually, no, it was Kitabayashi-san from our class." Reno explained. Sugaya gave him a quizzical look, clearly not expecting that, but then his face cleared and he nodded steadily.

"Ah, Kachi-kun. Good kid, brilliant poet in the making. I knew his dad a little in high school, but we lost contact until they returned to Japan two years ago. So I help him out sometimes, and I hang up some of his works. You'll see when we get into the office. Ah, speaking of which- Hey, Ueda-kun, Nishioka-san! Man the front for me, will you? I need to help out these young ones."

The man in the clothing materials section saluted Sugaya, while a female voice called out a response in the affirmative from a section of the shop Hana couldn't see, and they continued on towards the main till. Hana noticed a poster on the wall above the till, advertising a game called _Missing Nights_. The two almost-anime-style characters wielding weapons in the centre of the poster made Hana think of the painting again. But again, she could not say why.

"Okay, so we'll just be going in there-"Sugaya pointed to the door behind the till, right next to the poster, flapping the sheets that contained Reimiya and Akira's designs as he did so. "And then we'll take a look at these things. Although I must say, the flick through I've just been doing so far has shown me some pretty dang impressive stuff."

Sugaya handed back the papers to Akira, who (presumably out of habit), slid them neatly back into the folder that she'd transported them in. Then, he dug into his pockets to get his keys when someone said his name and he stopped and turned. Hana and the others all turned as well to see a flame-haired woman pushing along a baby buggy approach him with a calm but blissful (if somewhat tired) aura about her. The baby in the buggy was prettily clothed and very cute, with the same coloured hair as the woman, and burgundy eyes that looked around at everything curiously.

"Oh hey, look who it is!" Sugaya exclaimed. "Anything I can help you with, Rinka-Chan?"

The woman regarded Hana and the others quizzically, obviously baffled by their presence and the fact that they seemed to be waiting for her to finish, then shook her head and smiled at Sugaya.

"No, no. It's fine. Since Ryuunosuke's at work and it's nice out, I just decided that it would be nice to wander around town. And we're enjoying it, aren't we?" At this the woman bent down to tenderly stroke the soft hair of the sweet, solemn seeming baby in the buggy. Sugaya knelt down in front of the baby, and held out his finger, which the baby promptly grabbed at with tiny starfish hands.

"Good to see you too, Kayo-Chan." He tickled the baby's stomach with his other hand, causing her to gurgle and kick her little bootie-clad feet about before he rescued his finger and stood up again.

"Well, if you do end up buying anything, then Ueda-kun or Nishioka-san can help, okay?"

The woman nodded in a dignified manner, and then walked away, pushing along the buggy as she did, saying things to the baby that Hana could not quite discern in soft, loving tones. Sugaya went straight to the door and unlocked it, ushering all of them in before he shut the door behind him. The office, in a way, was a miniature version of the shop, except it was contained to wall displays and things hanging off the ceiling. There were also some works of art resting on the filing cabinet and bookshelves. Sugaya quickly located a couple of stacks of chairs that had insane patterns printed all of them, and set them out so they could all sit near his desk. Akira and Reimiya chose to sit nearest to the desk, and Sugaya, for his part, sat in the large leather chair that clearly went with the desk.

"Hey, that woman was the same one in the poster, wasn't she?" _Eh?_

Clearly, nobody had any idea what Ayako was on about, and so there was a moment of utter silence, broken only by the sounds of the poster plans being laid out upon the table. Then, Sugaya cleared his throat.

"Which poster?"

Ayako opened her mouth to answer, but Hana had figured it out already, and so she was the one to blurt out the answer.

"Missing Nights. And that lady is in the painting, too, the rooftop jumping one. She's just landed from a jump and she's waiting for her friend."

"Her now-husband, as it happens. He's in there, too. They both modelled their movements for the gameplay, and then the studio ended up modelling the appearances of the characters on them, too."

Sugaya's eyes twinkled at this, clearly caught up in a memory for a moment. A good memory.

"But yes, Hana-Chan and Ayako-Chan, you are right. She's another former 3E-er. We're pretty close knit, even if not all of us see each other as often as we do others. That's just the type of class we are. Were. Are."

"And that painting, the way you all were in that….were you that sort of class too?" Hana was aware that she was being a little impudent but she felt compelled to know, because seeing such a picture….for the first time, she understood why Izzy was so interested in this particular 3E from thirty years ago, she understood what Tada had, being part of the second generation of that class (and, by that logic, what Kou had, because if the painting was of the 3E of thirty years ago and there was a boy who looked like Kou in that class, then it was fairly obvious what link they had). It felt….liberating, somehow. _A 'family' like that….it would be nice if my family could become like that. Or if this class could end up as a family like that._

Sugaya didn't seem offended by that, but he was caught unawares, and again there was a silence where he considered, and then he nodded, and provided a smile answer.

"Yes."

This was enough for Hana, and so she resettled her hat to expose her face more, and released Sugaya from any more questioning. After all, she wasn't as boneheaded as Izzy.

And then, the real conversation began, and they all began to discuss the posters, thinking about what size they should be, the colours to use, the fonts to put the text in, illustrations and all sorts, Ayako even showing him the blog in more detail while Kuroba informed him of the latest school events, all while Fuyumi made detailed notes on whatever progress they made, as well as keeping a note of all the costs they could possibly end up incurring. Hana found that, for all she'd wanted to come to this place, and for all she found the debate and discussion compelling, she could not make any contributions, no matter how she tried. It was as if she'd floated into a dream world of sorts. So after a little while, she let it take her, and she allowed herself to just be a watcher over these proceedings.

About half way through, Sugaya got up to get them cups of tea and some snacks, and they took a quick comfort break, during which they chatted a little more, mostly about the present, with Sugaya pointing out some of Kitabayashi's poems and pieces of his own artwork, but a little about the past, too. It turned out that although Tada and Hiro had visited the shop with their mother when it had first opened, over time, it had been Hiro who independently visited All Is Possible the most. It certainly explained why Tada might not have recognised the address Kitabayashi had provided them all. And it also turned out that the painting, that big, beautiful painting had been a recent addition to the shop. Around a year ago, as it turned out. _The same amount of time that Kei-Chan locked himself into his own world._ It was at that point that they resumed 'work' so to speak, and so Hana tried to pull herself out of the reverie and listen in, even if she didn't join in.

Eventually, after what was rapidly approaching three hours, they had two designs- a slightly-larger-than-A4 one more suitable for sticking up, and an A5 one for handing out, using the blurred black-board design from the blog as their logo and indeed, using the general concept of a chalkboard (with very colourful chalks) for the design. The poster outlined the bare bones of what Ending the End Class was all about, but it mainly directed readers not only to the blog, but to the Facebook page that Ayako had just set up. After all, the purpose of the posters was about a general raising of awareness. They had also decided not to use photographs that were already circulating, or indeed any others apart from that from which the logo had been derived.

"I really, really, really like how this has turned out!" Ayako said once a sample of each version had been printed and they could look at it properly. "I mean, look at that!"

"It's amazing." Hana effused quietly. Akira folded her hands in her lap and nodded serenely, also looking satisfied.

"Not bad at all." Kuroba decreed.

"I certainly think this will catch more than a few new eyes. So, what are we going to do about distributions? "Reno asked, ruffling Reimiya's hair and making her beam up at him with justifiable pride.

"Well, I'm going to stick up a copy of the larger one and take a small stack of the handout ones to put by the main till." Sugaya put in.

"Mhm, and I'm sure Fumiko-sempai would be willing to do something similar at Oceanfront, no?" Fuyumi mused. "That being said….given we're all middle schoolers doing this out of our own pocket, will we be able to fund enough to distribute in a wider range of places?"

"Ah, it can go on my tab." Kuroba didn't seem to notice the way the jaws of the middle schoolers in the room dropped, and he just zoned in on Sugaya. "I have a feeling we'll be making repeat visits across the year, especially as we step up the campaign. So put it on my tab. I'll give you the details. "

Sugaya nodded, not too fazed.

"That's fine, Seijuro-kun. I was going to give you a discount, given that this would be mass printing and I'd be taking a cut of the posters anyway. How about I print off enough copies, and then we come out and I can take care of all that on the till?"

"I think that would work." Fuyumi said after writing this latest proceeding down. "I reckon that for now, 30 big ones and maybe 200 handout ones would be sufficient for our purposes."

"Yes, of course." Sugaya promptly tapped at the keyboard keys and let the printer in the corner of the room begin to spit out the posters.

"We can always return for more if we need them, right?" Reimiya inquired as she looked up at the man, who stood up at that moment.

"That's correct, Reimiya-Chan."

Once the printing had been sorted, they all filed out and clustered around the till. Hana found herself looking around again, but this time, she was less intoxicated by the allure of the place (although, to her, it was still entrancing). She shifted a little so that she'd have the painting in her line of sight, but this time, she focussed more on the paper crafts section, sizing up what sort of things they had from a distance. It didn't take too long for Sugaya to pile up and package the posters after taking his cut and for Seijuro to set up his tab before Fuyumi put them away in her elegant tote bag. After it was all done, Sugaya shook hands with all of them, although he faltered when he got to Reimiya because of Reno's rather intense fish-eye glare, and then they went back down the store to the entrance.

"Oi, Aoshima." Hana stopped in her tracks from where she was bee-lining to paper crafts, and turned to Kuroba. He had his hands deep in the pockets of his black trousers. He seemed a little uncomfortable- for he was scuffing the side of one of his red-and-black trainers using the toes of the other- even as he looked down at her loftily.

"What is it, Kuroba-kun?"

"Izzy is at the local library- because he took your advice about chasing information down old fashioned routes," The huff Kuroba made at this told her he didn't necessarily agree with that despite the fact he seemed to be going along with it. "So I'm heading there next, to accompany him. I think he'd probably like it if you joined in too."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was an invitation. Hana, feeling a little cheeky, decided to pretend to think about it.

"Izzy at the library…uhm…..well… I think we need to tell Ii-kun about the painting." She pointed across to it, and Kuroba followed the line of her finger with a steady gaze. "So I guess I'll come…but will he mind if we're held up a little?"

"Why would you want to know that?" Kuroba demanded.

"I want to buy some origami paper." She explained, gesturing to it. Kuroba turned and stared at the paper crafts section. Then, he looked at her incredulously, evaluating for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he ran a hand through his red hair.

"Fine, whatever. I'll wait outside for you, but don't dawdle, got that?"

 **…**

He was in the kitchen, tentatively getting to know the place by putting together a meal when Rio came home from work, a bit pissy but generally amiable.

"Ah, so you are still here. That's good." She said without preamble as she came into the kitchen and tossed her long coat over one of the chairs. "Phew, what a day. "

"A long one?" he asked, cautiously. It reminded him of other conversations on other evenings he'd had, with her as opposed to Rio, but still. Unaware that he'd made that comparison in his head, she flashed a tired smile at him.

"Yeah, I guess. But some of it is rather interesting. I'll tell you once I'm changed and whatever. What's cooking?"

"Curry."

"Ah, cool. Oh, but that probably means I shouldn't leave my coat here, huh?"

"Probably not." He responded wryly, holding in the chuckle. He couldn't help but feel that there was a part of Rio that had still never grown up. That impression persisted when her response to that was to stick her tongue out and wink, before bouncing up, grabbing her coat with a flourish and heading upstairs. Once she had, he found himself breathing a sigh of relief. The whole domestic evening scene was one he needed to reschool himself in- for the past thirteen years he had watched over people and brushed by them. Sometimes, he had extinguished them and then moved on before anyone was the wiser. It was his penance, for failing to protect her, the debt he had to pay off in exchange for being allowed to disappear. Yet the links to the world he'd once had and cherished were not ones that could be cut, not completely. _Which is why I'm here now, why I stayed here this year. At least, that's part of it. I'm sure of it. I'm addicted._

So he was glad that, when he'd finished making the curry and Rio had come downstairs having showered and exchanged her smart work clothes for a neon purple t-shirt and grey tracksuit trousers, they decided to settle on the sofas in the living room, and not around the dining room table. She flopped across her three seater sofa, while he took the armchair sofa opposite.

"Mmm, this is good! At least you're still a good cook."

"Erm, thanks."

Not sure what else to say to each other, it was far too easy to focus on eating instead, and to fall back into a silence. If he squinted at it, it would almost seem like a lazy casual evening with a friend. No complications, no guilt, no nothing. _But I am not so stupid as to believe in that. Everything changed after that time._

"So, today, guess who came to visit the office?" Rio didn't bother to wait for an answer to that. "Tada, as well as Hanae-san and Eriko-san. "

"Really?" Intrigued at the mention of some of the names he had familiarised himself with (and with the one he knew well already, but should have had an opportunity to know better), he sat up. "How come? Just a casual visit?"

Rio shook her head, and set her mouth in a grim line.

"No. They had something to hand into us. Something that could be used if they were to come to any harm- a recording, to be precise. And I guess they wanted some advice and reassurance from at least one of us…"

" _They're going to kill us!"_

He'd been in the forest that time, barely meters away from Tsukuda when she had come tearing in, trying hard to deny her own terror and then folding into it. In his incompetence, all he'd been able to do was leave a packet of tissues by her feet, so that she could at least mop herself up. And he'd been intending to secretly keep an eye on her until she'd vented appropriately, for even if she had no idea of his existence let alone his presence, someone that distressed should not have to be alone. But of course, Tada had shown up, as if there was no other way something like that could have gone. So he'd retreated and left them to it. But still, those words rang through his ears and mind.

"Yo, hello, still there?" Rio clicked her fingers in mock-irritation and he blinked. He noticed that only an increased composure in her features and a few lines edging her eyes betrayed her true age. Not to mention, her more mature shape.

"Sorry. You're talking about the assembly, right? The one where Okikura told them that no matter what someone did to them, they would not be believed. Did they ask for a restraining order or something? "

"Restraining order? Against who, the entire school? You're a little disconnected, aren't you? Oxymoronic, considering. "I _could have said as much._ "Anyway, according to Tada, one of their classmates had managed to sneak a hand-held digital recorder into the assembly, and basically recorded the entire speech relating to that new school rule. Given that if a main campus student-or a teacher- got wind of that, they'd probably get it stolen, the class eventually decided to upload the recording to a computer and circulate the copies amongst themselves, as well as email it to Yuu, Hiroto and Megu. But they also decided that it would be safer to entrust a copy to a lawyer, and get it legally protected. That much, we were able to do, so we did. "

"That's clever thinking on their part, not that I'm supr-wait, why do you keep saying 'we', Rio-san?"

"Huh?" Rio paused mid munch, and seemed to mentally play back the dialogue before quickly chewing and swallowing so that she could answer him.

"Ah, my colleague happens to be the aunt of Hanae-san. We work together on cases, from time to time, and we do hang out sometimes after work, but until today I'd had no idea that her niece was the same 'Hanae-Chan' Tada goes on about. And the family link shows. They have a lot in common, it's actually kinda cool."

"Ahh." Naturally, he had never seen Tsukuda's aunt, but he instantly had the image of a fiercely dark haired, warm hearted woman who had the same justice-seeking tendencies the girl he'd seen had.

"It was actually kind of sad….." Rio turned serious, and her gaze went inwards, clearly thinking over that particular event of the day. He waited, patiently, and as he did, he worked his way through the curry still remaining on his plate until he had nearly finished it.

"Anyway." Rio suddenly spoke up again. "What they mostly needed, apart from us keeping a copy of that recording should it be needed, was reassurance. "

"I'm guessing you managed to give that."

"Sure we did. As much as we could. I mean, even coming from a class like ours, knowing that such a rule had been made in such a way was….a little shocking."

"On the other hand, it seems to suggest that Okikura isn't made of the same stuff as Principal Asano. I mean, he wouldn't have announced such a thing, or even have made it into a rule. He would have somehow managed to subtly manipulate people into believing such a thing was possible, and then he'd sit back and let the destruction begin. "

"You make that sound like it's all good, in that case!" Rio said, a little flummoxed. He sighed.

"No. What I meant was, this means that they have a fighting chance of winning. If Okikura is nowhere near what Principal Asano was….then they have that chance. "

"Oh." Rio pondered on this. "Ohhh. I'm sorry"

She rubbed her face tiredly, and sighed deeply. Then, she looked over at him with her sky-capturing eyes, and although he had the stock response of 'there's no need to apologise' ready on his lips, he found that he couldn't access it, and instead he just stared at her, memories of both friendship and regret flooding in. Eventually, it became so intense he blushed and decided to get up and clear away the plates, heading to the kitchen to try and cool off a little. _It was seven years ago. One night, seven years ago. And at that time, I hadn't seen anyone in 3 years. Not Rio-san, or Karma, or anyone. I didn't even go to visit her. But when I did get around to visiting, she didn't suspect. And even now, she is clueless. So it isn't as if she is hurt from the knowing. But…..but it was still wrong, wasn't it. No matter what the circumstances, you don't do that sort of thing to people you care about. You just don't._

"You're beating yourself up." It was not a question. Rather than just go to sit back on the sofa, he stood where he was and waited. She sighed heavily as she looked over the back of the sofa at him.

"You're still blaming yourself. For everything." She was scolding him, and rightfully so. "When will that stop?"

"I…Rio-san…."

"When?" she asked again. "It's been thirteen years! Why aren't you angry with that blockhead for taking advantage of you? Why aren't you angry at the system? At the events that made her snap in the first place? And me? Aren't you angry at me? I was the one you asked to defend her in court…and then….and then….."

A faint pink darkened her cheeks and then she looked away, her bluster gone. But she hadn't finished saying what it was she needed to say.

"I don't regret it. That night, I mean. I can't even refer to it as anything else apart from 'that night' but…I don't regret it. And you shouldn't either, because we both fully know that if she hadn't done what she did and got sent to prison, I wouldn't have even bothered trying-well, if I'd managed to get myself completely plastered then maybe I would have cos unrequited love is a bitch- but the point is, you would have just gently turned me down and sent me off to sleep it off safely, and after a little awkwardness when I'd sobered up, we'd be fine. You know? You should know. So I don't…"

He reached over the sofa, and located her hand, and held it in his.. A simple gesture, free of the things that clouded their relationship the way it was now. But also, an apology, and one that needed to be followed up with words.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry." _Is this enough?_

Rio laughed, a watery sound, not the rich golden tone she usually let out. But all the same it was a laugh, accompanied by a cheeky waggling of the eyebrows.

"Yeah. Yeah, I figured as much. "Her fingers tightened around his, and she let out a sigh of relief. "I guess you're doing what you can. We both are."

"Mhm."

"And it's not as if our fucked-up histories are the biggest things to worry about now."

"Nope. There's the children to consider. Tada-kun, Hanae-Chan, Eriko-Chan and all the others. They're more important, right now." He nodded at this, determinedly. _Perhaps that would be enough._ Rio laughed at him, and used her other hand to briefly grab up all her hair before letting it fall again, in a sort of absent minded gesture. Her other hand still held onto his, and he let it. There was the back of the sofa in between them, after all. It was a bridge right now, but also the barrier he needed to remind him not to lapse again.

"But even so…we're still good, right? Even with everything?" Rio asked softly, doubtfully.

"Yes, we are."

It was an easy thing to say, because it was true. But the truest thing that he could say right at that moment was not one he could say. But, it was not as if he needed to say it, because she knew already. He could tell. After all, by now, all the people he'd ever loved were used to it.

 _But even though we're good, I'll have to go soon._

* * *

 **So, a couple more 3E alumni appearances and a little bit more insight into our Mystery POV. I thought it would be interesting to have him interact with someone for a change, and though I'm still not saying who he is, I think you'll probably understand a little more of his motivations and feelings etc. And you have more to work with regarding guesses as to his identity (although some of you are pretty canny and are getting pretty close to the truth anyway). As for Sugaya, I was actually intending his introduction, as it were, to be in a scene that takes place much later in the story. While I still intend on including that scene anyway, I figured it would be better to bring him into the story earlier. Oh, and 'spiffy' is definitely a Sugaya word. This cannot be debated lol. I also couldn't resist the opportunity for a Hayami and baby Kayo cameo. Babies are cute ^^**

 **If anyone is wondering where my inspiration for that 3E painting on the shop wall came from, it's based on the Wakaba day Care arc, the scene where they are all free running across the rooftops, just before they scare the day care principal. It was a beautiful moment, something very Studio Ghibli and carefree about it, and as it's one of my favourite mini moments of the series I wished to pay homage to it in some way.**

 **So, that's all I have to say this week, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave feedback as always!**


	28. I am (even so) a soap bubble (I believe)

**Sorry for the late update- I had exams this week. I still have, actually, as there's one more on Friday, but after today's exam I got home somewhat earlier than expected, so I decided to finish and upload this today. But, even though I've been writing (and planning, in the case of later arcs), you're probably not going to get the standard Sunday update this week. But I'm hoping to shift things back so I'm uploading on Sunday afternoons again by the end of next week. So yeah.**

 **Anyway this is a character development filler sort of chapter (and I intend the next one to be that type too, as it happens). Perhaps it's not the punchiest way to return after a week-and-a-half gap but whatever. I think you'll enjoy it- actually, as always, I hope you do. And as usual, please leave feedback!**

* * *

It was fairly rare for Yukiyama to get to school early. Or rather, it was rare for him to arrive there earlier than Kinomoto, Haru and/or Tsuwabuki, as they were almost always the first people there due to the class flowers. But apparently, he had managed to arrive before them, and that was a very weird realisation for him.

 _So….what do I do now?_ Yukiyama turned around in a slow circle to survey his surroundings. A pointless move, but it helped the contemplation. Going inside at this time wasn't very appealing, and he didn't feel like wandering around the forest- he'd most likely end up there during the break times anyway, so that wasn't something he needed to overdo. So Yukiyama sat himself on the step in front of the school entrance, and opened his bag to get his phone so he could listen to music. By now, the music habit was so ingrained in him-after all, it gave him an effective way to avoid interaction-that retrieving his phone from the various items he carried to and from school each day should have been fairly instantaneous. But instead, Yukiyama's hand brushed against something small and cylindrical, and almost instinctively, his fingers closed around it and he pulled it out. _Ah._

It turned out to be the bottle of bubble liquid that Hiro had given him during the Kyoto trip. Some images flashed through his mind, of her smiling, blushing, fumbling with her phone to show him pictures from the museum she'd visited, of the straightforward way in which she'd given him the little gifts, all resplendent. _Bubbles, huh?_ He more or less knew what the points of such toys were; for he'd seen plenty of young children fill the air with soap bubbles in previous summers. But he'd never played with such things himself- his father would not have allowed it, and he did not think he would have found the time to do so anyway.

 _But now I have both the means and the time, because of Chihiro._

He weighed up the little bottle in the palm of his hand for a moment or so, and then he sighed, deeply. There was no use in denying that he wanted to have a go. So he hefted his bag so that it was next to him, and no longer on his lap, and then he unscrewed the lid of the bubble liquid, bringing the wand out too as it was apparently attached to the lid. Making sure the wand had captured the bubble liquid, he brought it to his lips, pursed them…and then blew, gently.

Almost instantly, a stream of shiny, colourful, transparent liquid circles released themselves from the wand and moved forward. A faint breeze picked them up, and so a few flew upwards, while others went outwards in other directions. And soon after that, a few at a time, they popped without a sound, seeming to make little soap sud sparks as they did so. Disappointed that they had gone that quickly, Yukiyama followed up this stream of bubbles by redipping the wand and releasing another, then another, and then more again, always as quickly as possible so that there wasn't a moment where the air was bubble free. A couple of times, he even decided to take the time and make a few large bubbles, and while many popped before they could even _be_ , a good few survived, and floated along jollily amongst the many little ones. _It's rather attractive. Now I know the appeal._

"Well now, this is unexpectedly pleasant." Kinomoto commented as he came up the hill, clearly a little surprised at the sight. "Oh, Yukiyama-kun, it's you. Good morning."

Yukiyama simply nodded, for he did not want to disrupt the flow of the bubbles. Kinomoto smiled, and turned to call down the hill that it was Yukiyama who was responsible for the bubbles before going along to gather the watering cans and whatever he needed. And the reason for that was soon fairly clear as Haru and Tsuwabuki came bounding along.

"Woah!" Haru held her hand up to catch one of the fat bubbles, gasping and then laughing when it popped. Turning to Yukiyama, she beamed and bowed to greet him, and again, he nodded politely in return. Tsuwabuki just rotated in a slow, gobsmacked circle before going to find Kinomoto. When the two boys returned to check up upon the first hanging basket, Haru crossed over to join them, her eyes still lit up with laughter.

Tada was the next to arrive, along with the little entourage that tended to accompany Fuyumi each morning, and they, too, were entranced by the bubbles, constantly turning to try and capture or gaze at the bubbles, even as the wheelchair was set down and Fuyumi helped back into it. Once she was settled, she wheeled over near to the steps, and parked the wheelchair so that she was facing the same direction that Yukiyama was.

"I think I'll watch from this side of things, if you don't mind. The bubbles are a bit like my ribbons today." Fuyumi remarked. Yukiyama snuck a glance and noted that the ribbons tied around her two ponytails were an opal type of shade- white, but with many different colours embedded within it. And as if to provide further evidence towards that point, he sent out another stream of bubbles, watching their slick rainbow shades change under the sky.

The others drifted in in dribs and drabs, and all had their own reactions to the bubbles. A few went to a side to stand (or sit cross-legged on the grass) and just watch, whether with the wary air Kitabayashi had about him, the impressed approval Jori showed, the entranced wide eyes of Reimiya and Akira, Yamada's open-mouthed gawp, the calm observation that Eriko and Kaori made or the more far-off (but clearly pleased) regard Reno displayed. Tada and Tsukuda stood close together, laughing and pointing out bubbles to each other, and occasionally trying to catch some with both their hands. Azama flopped to lie down in the middle of the grass, arms stretched out as he regarded the bubbles in his usual manner, and Koujiro, Hirigi and Ruko somehow got themselves into some sort of chasing game, running around through the bubble streams while dodging the relaxed Azama.

Kuroba came to sit down near to Yukiyama and Fuyumi, but at a distance from them, resting his hands on his knees as he did so. No doubt that the reason he stayed out in the first was Izzy-who had been dragged into spinning around into what was almost (but not quite) a dance amongst the bubbles with Hana, who looked utterly ecstatic. Kinomoto, Haru and Tsuwabuki continued their progression with the plants, but they, too, watched and exclaimed at the proceedings. And Ayako filmed it all on her phone, adding in some random commentary as she did so, but mostly just giggling and calling things out to her classmates.

Eventually, Yukiyama's hand started to ache from having been in similar positions for such a long time, and Izzy, Hana, Ruko, Hirigi and Koujiro all seemed to tire, so he let out a few more long streams of bubbles, and then closed the bottle. When Tsuwabuki next came past, he remarked to them all that it was soon approaching the time they should really be inside the classroom, and Ayako stopped her filming. Kuroba took the moment to disappear inside, and Yukiyama thought he should do the same when a thought came and threw itself at him. _I wish Chihiro had been here to see all of this._

With that realisation, he didn't move for a while, and instead let everyone else flit by as they chatted, or dusted themselves off, or gulped large sips of water from water bottles (or, in the case of Ruko, gobbled down a packet of Maryland cookies). But since the stillness didn't bring any kind of answer with it, he decided to just head in. And as he did so, and headed to his seat, he heard Ayako proclaim that she was going to send around the video so everyone had a copy of the memory, before then putting it on the blog and the other pages for Ending the End Class. _Ah, there's my answer._

"Hey, Takashita."

"Huh, what, oh, right!" Ayako blinked confusedly, and although the gesture was irritating, Yukiyama supposed that he couldn't blame her. He couldn't bring to mind a single occasion where he had directly interacted with the over-friendly girl. Probably on account of her being over-friendly, but still.

"That video," he got straight to the point. "Can you do something with it for me?"

"Like….could it be that you're not happy with me having filmed it, Yukiyama-san?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing like that. Just…before you put it up to the blog, could you….." he gritted his teeth, hating the 'over-sharing alert' feeling he was getting, but he pushed through. "Could you send it onto Chihiro as well, and then pass on a message to her from me with the video?"

"Chihiro…Chihiro….oh! Hiro-san! I'm a dope!" _A nickname is all very well, but how does it help when you end up forgetting their given name?!_ "Right, sorry. I suppose that makes sense given everything between you two…which is why I have to say no."

When Yukiyama narrowed his eyes at her she flailed and hurried to explain herself.

"I'm not refusing you, no, no, no, that isn't it at all! But really, as much as your impending romance interests me, that doesn't mean I want to _interfere_. Plus, I'm sending the video around to everyone so that we can all have it personally."

Ayako tilted her head and scrutinised Yukiyama, before continuing to talk.

"How about this? I'll send it to just you for now…." She took out her phone and fiddled with it for a moment, before her face lit up with achievement. "There. Now, I'll go make sure everyone else gets it, and now you can tell Hiro-san whatever you want with the video, okay?"

"Okay." Then, because it was the polite thing to do: "Thank you, Takashita."

"No problem-o, Yukiyama-san! I'm fully supportive of your blossoming relationship!"

 _Idiot,_ Yukiyama thought, shaking his head in annoyance as he retrieved his phone and checked the message. Still, she had delivered on her promise, so he shoved aside the irritation for the present, and saved the video to his gallery before opening up a new message, putting Hiro's name in the 'To' section, and attaching the video. Then, he tapped on the message box, and thought for a while.

When it came to it, he was not too sure what to say, but in the end, he went for the original sentiment that had made him decide to want to share the video of the moment with her in the first place. So it was those words he tapped out before he sent off the message, and as he watched the screen flash with the confirmation message, he felt inordinately content.

 **…**

Since she was, for all intents and purposes, scoffing down a quick lunch before rushing off to squeeze in another dance practise, Hiro grabbed a random bench in the corner of the playground, and proceeded to look through her phone while doing so. As tended to be routine, she had some email alerts telling her that the Ending the End Class blog had new posts, a couple of messages from Megu and Rio, another message from Sugaya telling her that the new bolts of material she'd ordered in had arrived at All is Possible, lots of randomness from Kou, an update-style message from Irina (her mother's other former teacher, who was now by Karasuma's comatose side daily) and various bits and pieces from her Riverside friends. What was more unusual was a message from Yukiyama, sent at some point that morning. Even more unusual was the fact that it seemed to have a video attached to it. Curious, she chose to open that message first.

 _When this happened, I watched it unfold, and, more than anything, wished that you had been there to watch it unfold with me. I hope that could be an answer for you._ Could _it be an answer for you?_

The words jumped out at her, and Hiro found that she could picture Yukiyama, so, so vividly. She could so easily imagine the way he would have frowned over his phone as he thought of what to type. She blushed a little at the thought, and then searched around in her bag for her headphones, which she used when she wanted to listen to something when she could not play it aloud. Once she had found them, she plugged them into her phone, put the headphones over her ears, and watched the video.

It appeared to be a scene just outside the 3E building, and everyone seemed to be gathered outside, some standing or sitting around the sides, others running and spinning (or, in the case of Azama, lying down) in the grass. The reason for this gathering was obviously the multitude of pretty bubbles that were spinning around in the air, getting replaced by new ones as soon as they popped. From the sounds of it, Ayako was the one who was filming, for although Hiro heard her voice, she didn't see her. Hiro wrinkled her brow a little at the scene, for although it was really sweet she didn't quite….oh. When Ayako swung around a little, suddenly, she comprehended. _Ah, Saito._ The choice to give him the soap bubbles bottle had been more of an impulse than the cherry blossom tree statue had been. Apparently, it had been the correct impulse.

She downloaded the video so she could watch it all fully later, and then took off her headphones. She needed to hurry, so she would send her reply and then finish her lunch before heading off. It was a solid plan, but one that suddenly wavered when she noticed a fellow third-year student standing in front of her, looking rather nervous.

"Erm….did you need something?"

The boy shuffled from foot to foot, and Hiro frowned. The boy was definitely not in her class, because she'd know, but yet he seemed so….. _Ah. Oh, great._ All of a sudden, she recognised what his nervousness could be a result of, as she'd experienced something similar herself, not too long ago. She looked down at her phone, and the blank message space waiting for a reply. _Right, let's get this over and done with._

"What's your name? I don't think we've met before?" she asked calmly, betraying nothing. The boy nodded furiously.

"I'm Hidaka, from 3D. We were in the same class last year, but maybe you don't remember because that was only a short while. But….I always thought that you were, you know, pretty cute, and well….this year, everyone talks about you since you're in 3A, and you've just become even cooler in my eyes so I was wondering….would it trouble you too much if I asked you to start dating me?"

The tips of Hidaka's ears flamed red, and Hiro felt just a little sorry for him. Especially as his humiliation would, in the end, be for nothing.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, shaking her head solemnly. "I cannot. "

"Oh…uh…right. Is it because of studying, or that you just don't know me yet? I don't mind it if we just act more like friends, first. I know some girls prefer it like that. Or….could it be Kitakawa-san is already dating someone else?"

 _Saito._ Hiro thought of the bubbles in the sky, of an answer sought and hopefully found. Of the future.

"All those reasons are correct." She told him. "I'm sorry to take up your time like that, Hidaka-kun, but I can't go out with you."

"No, no, I'm the one who inconvenienced you, even though you're already taken…well, sorry, Kitakawa-san!"

Chastened, the poor boy rushed off, no doubt to go and sulk somewhere. Hiro sighed and shook her head in amazement. She somehow couldn't imagine that everyone in the year talked about her…then again, she could see why they would, especially because she had decided to be honest. _Oh well_. She figured that now was not the time to think upon such things, and so she put it out of her mind. Holding the phone, she pondered the best way to answer Yukiyama, then figured that keeping it simple would be best.

 _Yes._

Although it was just the one word, she looked it over, and over, and when she was sure she hadn't mistakenly typed something else, she sent her response, and smiled to herself.

 **…**

It was tempting to take a hard-line on Izzy's attachment to his laptop, but the weather was nice and at least when he had asked, Izzy had come to sit with him, so Kuroba declined the temptation. Still, the clack-clack of the keyboard keys did not allow him to enjoy the bliss of lying under the sun. Instead, he thought of the things he'd helped Izzy find out so far. Sure, they were nowhere near to finding the answers to 30 years ago behind the various government firewalls, but little by little, things were becoming clear. And the more titbits of information they'd come across, the more Kuroba admitted they were very interesting. More interesting than what he'd come here to find out, surprisingly enough.

"What section of all this are you following up this time, Izzy?" Kuroba asked lazily, turning his head slightly to regard his friend. Izzy looked down at him and stuck his tongue out cheekily before answering.

"The murder of that scientist from about 13 years back." He said. "Although, to be honest, online is proving to be as much of a black hole as the papers on the microfiche."

"I thought you were following the name of the murderer." Kuroba pointed out.

"Ah, that's a point. The trouble is….Kaede Kayano doesn't seem to exist. "

"I'm sorry, what?"

"She's listed as being a member of Kunugigaoka Junior High 30 years back, as you know. There are basic records for her, she clearly attended high school and university….but apart from the early articles, and the brief one that announced her life sentence, there's nothing. A black hole. I can't find anything about family- she doesn't seem to have any next-of-kin or family to speak of, and the guy who was her boyfriend at the time seems to have gone AWOL since the sentencing. "

Izzy had mentioned the boyfriend before, so Kuroba shunted that aside for the moment, and instead focussed on the main issue at hand.

"So you think she had another identity. "

"Yeah….but it doesn't make much sense to me. There are no clues here as to who she could have possibly been before."

"Generally speaking, that's the point of getting a new identity." Kuroba pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Sei-Chan." Izzy dead-panned. "The point is, if you look deep enough, you can usually find the information. But there's nothing here, nothing at all. Perhaps…. there are birth records and the like in the town hall. I'm wondering if maybe I should look there to solve this mystery."

"It's worth a try. Aoshima's idea about the library netted you this new line of inquiry in the first place. "

"Yeah, Li'l Aoshima-Chan's cool like that." Izzy tapped and clicked a little more. "Oh! Yes….no, wait, dammit. I hit another wall. God, what could it be about this murder that they needed to try and erase from the collective memory?"

"Maybe it was related in some way to thirty years ago." Kuroba suggested. "After all, did that not receive a similar sort of treatment in the media?"

"Yeah…" Izzy looked unconvinced. He sighed, and rubbed his hands. "It might be easier to just dig through the rest of the school security and see what everybody's records say. It'd be more entertaining."

"Then maybe…" Kuroba paused. He had not told Izzy who he was looking for but why, despite the fact that he'd be more than able to help him. In fact, since he'd been doing pretty well at looking into the school records, Kuroba knew that if he provided the name he'd coaxed from his father, as well as the two possible years the person may have been in 3E, then he'd be able to narrow things down for him. But…. _do I want to do that?_

"What is it, Sei-Chan?"

"Nah, nothing. I'll ask you later." He said. _I don't want anyone else to overhear what is essentially my purpose, and even better, this buys me a little time._ "Maybe if you step back from the Yanagisawa murder for now and go back to the general articles about anything to do with thirty years ago, then we can visit the town hall this weekend."

"Sounds like a plan." Izzy flashed a grin at him. "Are we inviting Li'l Aoshima-Chan?"

"Why, do you want to?"

"Hmm…..maybe."

"Well, you'd better make your mind up soon. You need to inform her if she's going to come, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Sei-Chan. I've got it, don't worry."

"You're a dolt. How can I _not_ worry?"

"Haha, you're funny." Izzy laughed. A semi-silence fell on them for a while as Izzy tapped at the keys of his laptop and Kuroba closed his eyes to better feel the sun on his face. He could also hear the sounds of his various classmates fooling around, and although some of the antics he could hear made him want to open his eyes just to roll them in disapproval, he found that the events were not so unpleasant. _Huh, perhaps they're growing on me. How bizarre._

"Hey, Hey, Sei-Chan, did I ever tell you that my mother was part of 3E once, a long time ago?"

Kuroba sat up at the random non-sequitur, trying to hide the fact it made his heart race.

"No, you didn' she ever talk about it?" _Did it make as much of a difference to her life the way it seems to have done for Tada's mother?_

"If she does, then not to me." Izzy looked wistfully at the sky, his eyes seeming to snag on an aeroplane that was so high in the sky it looked little more than a splodge moving against the sky. Kuroba regarded him curiously, surprised at the vulnerability. When Izzy caught Kuroba's eye, he grinned resignedly and reached over to pat his hand.

"She dumped me at my grandparents when I was four and buggered off overseas. Somewhere European, if I recall the folklore. No big deal. "

Except such a thing _was_ a big deal. Losing a mother was a big deal. Hell, their own male Class Representative was a walking example. _Then again, it sounds like Izzy's mother didn't care much for him. I suppose the grief comes from when you lose someone, and there was a love in both directions._

"But you know she was in 3E?"

Izzy shrugged.

"It was mentioned off-hand to me from time to time." He evaded. "Not that it matters, anyway. I don't think of her much, and even when I do….well, to be honest, I prefer both this 3E, and the one of thirty years ago."

"Fair enough." _I wonder….I wonder if it is possible that…._ "So what 3E was she in? Before, or after our big mystery?"

"After. I think it was about 22 or 23 years ago. One of those 3Es. I'd probably be able to find out using the Class Registers if I was so inclined….but I'm not, so I haven't."

"Actually, I might have to ask you to do that." Kuroba put in.

"Eh?"

Kuroba sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. Then, he looked Izzy solidly in the eye and began to explain his own personal mystery, the one he had come here to solve in the first place. Even if one of the others did stumble by and overhear, he could easily send them away again. At this moment in time, the revelation he'd just been handed was far more important.

 **…**

Asami yawned. It had been a long, long day, and she really wanted to get home, but her teacher had asked her to hand some things over to the staff room, then one of the physics teachers had wanted her to help him carry some other things back to his own classroom….and then the favours had piled up. Now, most people were leaving their club rooms, and the school library was closing for the day. She would have joined them, especially as one of her classmates was also just leaving the library, when she remembered that she had left her bag in her maths classroom. _Great, brilliant, wonderful._ As she had a bunch of new homework assignments and a pop quiz to study for, and her phone was still in the bag, she could hardly leave it there and retrieve it the next day. So with a heavy sigh; she headed back upstairs to find it. As she did, she could hear the sounds of talking drift towards her. No doubt it was the students on cleaning duty attempting to pass the time.

"Do you think 'being on top of the world' is really a good thing?"

Asami stopped, stock still. _That's Hana._ She tipped her head, and noticed the sound came from her own homeroom. It took her a moment to remember that 3E had been tasked with some of the main building's cleaning duty, including homerooms. She remembered how pissed she'd been when she'd found out about it from overhearing some 3C boys bellyaching about things, and also how, rather embarrassingly, she'd vented about both her own sister's irresponsibility and Tada's to Hiro. Luckily, Hiro hadn't been too annoyed her, and had explained some of it, but even so. Then, there was the entire debacle about the 'rule' Okikura had announced. Everyone seemed to take it as something so dramatic, but what school would seriously imply to their students it was okay to pretty much murder each other? Unless it was some sort of assassin's school, and that sort of thing was the stuff of fiction anyway. She was sure that what Okikura meant had to be something different, something…less awful. _What would it mean if it didn't?_ Yet, after that rule announcement, Hana seemed to drift further from her. And despite everything, despite how utterly different they were, she could not stand that. She just couldn't. _We're still siblings. I still need to look out for her. So I need to understand where she stands now._

So, instead of striding onwards to her maths class, she moved closer to the door, made sure they wouldn't see her if they looked through the small window, and eavesdropped.

"Well, of course it is." Asami didn't recognise the male voice who replied. "Surely the expression itself answers that. And isn't it great to be the best, the winner, the most respected, whatever?"

"I suppose it is nice to be important in the scheme of the world. Asami-Chan…..she places a lot of importance on success, on winning. It works for her, and I like seeing that she has something to work for…."

"But?"

"Eh?"

"Ah come on, Li'l Aoshima-Chan. I can hear that 'but' as clear as day."

"….it's lonely at the top, is it not? And the only way to go from the top is down. So is there even any point in trying? I can't imagine there being any point in doing such a thing."

Asami wasn't sure how to react to all of that. She wasn't sure whether she should go in and shake the defeatist attitude out of Hana or if she should go in and hug her and apologise for the sadness that she could so clearly hear in her voice. She didn't know whether to be touched at Hana's concern for her, or to be embarrassed by it all. And she certainly didn't know what to make of what this all meant in the grand scheme, whether Hana was heading towards the same ruination that Kei had, and if there was any way to halt that inevitability apart from getting her out of 3E- or even whether Hana would be able to get out of 3E if these words were anything to go by. Not to mention…. _Li'l Aoshima-Chan? Who calls Hana that, and since when?_

"Ahhh." The male voice said sagely. There seemed to be a silence where presumably the boy was contemplating what to say. Then, he spoke.

"I guess it is a bit lonely to be the best. Because by definition, you're the only one there, and there isn't much wiggle room in that sort of definition. But we could always punch a hole through the sky, you know?"

 _I'm sorry, what?_

"Mhm….a hole, through the sky….." The sounds of tables and chairs being rearranged obscured some of the words Hana said, but the final part of it was clear.

"That's what we're doing, isn't it?"

It was at that stage that Asami decided that she'd had enough, and so she moved away from the door and strode down the corridor as quickly as possible, and entered her maths classroom. Mercifully, it was empty, and after checking that nobody had stolen anything in her bag, she quickly hitched it on her shoulder and rushed back out again, this time not bothering to stop and see if Hana and her classmate were still there. She didn't want to hear any more, and wasn't even sure that there was any point. None of what she had heard made sense, and all it proved was that Hana had just gone even further. Perhaps, when the end-of-terms got closer, she'd try again, she would reach out; help Hana to study so that maybe she'd get to start the new term in the main campus. But for now…. _I can't. I just can't._

And knowing that she couldn't made it even more of a relief when she finally, _finally_ got out of the school building.

* * *

 **This was meant to be 'character filler' but I ended up throwing a couple more clues about a mystery and then went all abstract-concept near the end there. Clearly I have weird definitions for things. Meh.**

 **A note about the chapter title: It's taken from the translation of lines from the first and last chorus of the song 'Wareta Ringo' by Risa Taneda. It's the first ending song of Shin Sekai Yori and well...both the song and the anime are top-notch. Seriously recommended.**


	29. No Matter What

For Kei, one of the better times of day was at around 9 or so in the morning, when his mother had already left for work, and the twins were safely in school. Neither his father nor the twins' father factored into his calculation about this, for different reasons, and so he did not consider them when he detected the dip in the noise levels of the house. _Ah, at last._

The first thing he did was open his room door and take the tray of food his mother would have left for him, and set it on his desk. He had to clear a whole stack of paper filled with half-written poems to do this, however, and this action prompted him to take a look around the room. _I suppose Asami was right, huh?_ Bolstered by the emptiness of the house, he resolved to clean it. It would make it easier for him to stay there…and in a way, it would be funny to see how surprised Asami would be when she next deigned to burst into his room (and, by extension, his world). _But first, a shower._

As usual, the moment he got to the doorway and lifted his foot in preparation for stepping out, he found that he needed to set it down again, take one step back, and _breathe_. After all, he'd been in here for a good, long while now, and he did not always come out during the better times of day. Sometimes, even that was too hard, because it seemed like it was a degree too close to the outside world. But today, he felt like trying, and so, after a moment that seemed to stretch with an excruciating pain, he began the process again, and soon, he was across the threshold. Not wanting to prolong the experience from there, he practically sprinted to the bathroom, and made his shower as quick as possible before rushing back and shutting the door, his heart threatening to burst out of his body because of it.

 _And now, to clean._ Randomly, he managed to find an empty binbag at the back of his wardrobe, so he took that out and put it aside for the purposes of gathering his debris before starting the rare clear-up. And then, he got on with it, trying his best not to think about anything. But this was not so easy, not really. In the clean-up, he came across poetry anthologies that his mother, or sometimes even his 'stepfather' (even if it wasn't technically correct, it was far easier to think of the twins' father as such) had given to him for various Christmas's and birthdays. One, his stepfather had given him when he'd graduated from Kunugigaoka Junior High, which had struck him as a cruel irony of sorts, even if he had been told that 'graduation was still graduation'. Evidently, he had kept the anthology anyway, and he weighed it up in his hand before setting it on his desk, next to his tray. He could read it once he was eating.

He found himself uncovering other memories as he cleaned, little handmade things either Hana or Asami had made him when tiny, tickets from theme parks, a certificate of commendation from a local spoken-word competition and some from track tournaments at school. He found his Kunugigaoka uniform, but discovered his blazer was missing. _I wonder where that went…._ but it wasn't like it mattered, not as much as the uniform from the high school he really should have been attending(although he didn't think that should matter, either). Even so, both were ones he quickly folded up and put away, as far out of sight as possible. The same occurred with any time he came across something to do with Hana. It was not the same as the explosion of feelings he got when he happened to bump into her these days…. _ah, what a debacle I'm in, thinking of her like an acquaintance,_ but even so, that guilt was _huge_ , a monument of sorts. So he put them away, hidden and out of sight, but safe.

After a while, he found more junk and debris than memories, and so he lulled himself into a state of calm, even starting to hum a little as he got into it. The binbag filled up, and so he found a couple old carrier bags to take up the slack. And then he found a large glossy booklet that had somehow fallen between his desk and the wall it was up against, and he pulled it out. He traced the words _A Guide to Teacher Training Programmes_ and as he did, he was transported back to an aspect of his life during Kunugigaoka that he had almost forgotten.

" _So, did you have an all right day today?" Isogai asked once Kei had made his way over to the table in the café. Wary, Kei shrugged. He was in 3E, after all. Surely Isogai should know what sort of day he had, at least generally?_

" _Yeah, I guess not. Still, maybe one day I'll ask and it'll turn out things are actually getting better." Isogai reasoned as he sipped from the iced tea he had ordered. Kei shrugged peevishly._

" _I can't imagine that happening. "He confessed. "I really can't. And I can't see it_ ending _, either."_

" _I can relate to that. But you know, it_ is _only a year. This time next year, you'll be in a high school, and that in itself is not so weird. A lot of people change institutions from middle school to high school."_

" _I know that…" Kei shrugged again, thinking that perhaps it was pointless to explain the sheer hopelessness that got piled on them day after day, how they constantly got told that there was no point to them even trying because they were 3E, because that was the lowest of the low, because they would be tainted by it. It was pointless to explain just how much the establishment drummed that into them, teaching it better than they taught any actual lessons to them. Though he hated to admit it even to himself, all this had made him cry one night not too long ago(although he'd managed to hold it back until he was ensconced in his room and he was sure that neither Hana nor Asami would hear)._

" _Well, how about you order something for now? Do you have money?"_

 _Kei blinked for a moment, confused, and then nodded. He pulled out his wallet as he studied the menu, and then he wandered up to the counter to order a glass of soda. The bubbly woman at the counter winked at him as she asked how he was keeping, and though his answers were brief, rote ones, he felt a little lighter for answering._

 _When he sat down, the conversation he had with Isogai moved to slightly lighter topics. Kei pulled out the books from the subjects he'd had today and talked about the topics they had 'covered' that day, and Isogai explained what he could from these things -which was quite a lot, in a competent manner- and made a few annotations for Kei to look on later at home. It made Kei think that maybe if Isogai hadn't decided to become a social worker, he'd make a good teacher._

 _In what was an uncharacteristic burst of spontaneity, he told Isogai this._

" _Thank you, that's kind, Aoshima-kun. But that reminds me of something, actually." Isogai took his bag, and rummaged through it before pulling out a thick, glossy-covered pamphlet that reminded Kei of a university prospectus. When Isogai handed it to him, he realised he wasn't too far off the mark, as it was a guide to the various different routes to teaching available in the country, Tokyo in particular. The same bubbly waitress who had taken Kei's order arrived with the soda, and beamed at him again before turning to greet Isogai with the same exuberance. They exchanged a couple of words, and Kei watched woodenly until the waitress went off again. Once she had, Isogai returned to focus on Kei._

" _You want to go into teaching yourself, don't you?" When Kei could only blink at Isogai, he just continued. "My eldest daughter is training to be a teacher, as it happens. She's on one of the newer type of programmes- I can't remember what it's called, but it should be in there. Since this is the guide she consulted when she was considering her university choices, it's a little old, and no doubt by the time you start to think of these things properly yourself it will properly be out of date, but it'll give you an idea on how to plan for that future. That, and I'd imagine that even if the specifics end up out of date, the general advice will stand you in good stead."_

" _I…." Despite himself, Kei reached for the guide and picked it up._ A Guide to Teacher Training Programmes _, it proclaimed on the front, accompanied by a patchwork pictures of teachers standing at boards, their students-ranging from elementary to high school- gazing at them obediently. It struck him that the overall image itself was a little archaic, stiff, restricted. But even so, he flicked through, and various words and images jumped out at him. The ideas of helping to shape a new generation, the joy of being trusted, the trust that got put into those who were teachers…._ it's not enough, but it's a good stepping stone to do what I need to do. _Kei pictured the ideology he wanted to make a reality and weighed it up against the things he'd seen in the pamphlet. Admittedly, the specific goal of 'becoming a teacher' had not factored into his previous plans, but he could see how it could work._ Ehehe, I'm not such a silly big brother after all, Asami.

 _Kei looked up at Isogai to thank him, but couldn't find the words. Isogai didn't seem to mind, however._

" _It's a lot to take in, I know. But you have time for that, and plenty of it. And in that time, you'll be able to gather other bits of information to help you too."_

" _And that's the point of this, isn't it?" Kei realised. Isogai nodded, and smiled encouragingly. There was something about the warm honesty in the gesture of the older man that made Kei want to return the kindness, so he worked to push his facial muscles into something that resembled a smile, but a sudden burst of tiredness interrupted the process and so he yawned._

" _Ah, you should probably head home now, shouldn't you?" Isogai asked, studying him. Kei wondered what Isogai was thinking about him. Or if that even mattered._

" _Yeah, I guess. " Kei looked at the soda he hadn't even drunk. He sipped at it, hesitantly. Eating rarely seemed to cross his mind these days. But apparently, it had crossed Isogai's mind, for he called back the cheerful waitress (addressing her as 'Fumiko-Chan') and briefly conferring with her before she disappeared and returned with a cookie on a small saucer, which she placed in front of Kei._

" _It's on the house, so enjoy!" she proclaimed, before rushing to take care of another customer's query. Kei stared down at the large chocolate chip cookie, before looking up at Isogai quizzically._

" _It shouldn't take you too long to eat- and you like cookies, right? Anyway, once you're finished with that, I'll walk you part of the way home, if you like?"_

 _Kei considered this, then picked up the cookie cautiously with both hands, like a young child might._

" _All right then."_

As Kei weighted up the pamphlet in his hand, he recalled the taste of that cookie vividly, though it had been from three years ago. It was a good cookie, but it was not like it had been special, not really. It was just a cookie. But now he also remembered Isogai, and Maehara, and Megu. _How did I manage to forget them, though?_ He sighed, his mind flooding with more snippets of memories relating to them, and then something else occurred to him. _Hana. They'll be meeting with Hana now, won't they?_ He looked to the wall that connected to her room, not knowing whether that realisation was one that relieved or burdened him. He looked down at the pamphlet again. He wondered if Isogai's daughter was a proper teacher now, and whether she was happy with that choice she made, or even what sort of teacher she was.

 _It's hardly as if I could find out,_ he scoffed to himself, putting the pamphlet down on top of the anthology on the desk. He carried the piles over to the corner of his room nearer to the door before wandering back to his desk, running a hand through his hair as he did so, making some of it stick up, not that he cared about that. As Kei sat down to begin the breakfast his mother had left him, the pamphlet once again caught his attention. _I still want….I still want to be able to teach in my own school, in a better system. There's no point in wanting that, but when have wants ever listened to reason?_ He hesitated for a while, but then, he picked up the pamphlet, opened it to the first page, and began to read it as an accompaniment to his food.

 **…**

Sports were not something that Ueno particularly enjoyed, or excelled in. He didn't hate them as such, he just didn't have any passion for them. But since these games tournaments were part of the school ethos, he dealt with it. In any case, most of the day centred around simply being there to watch and support the school's baseball, netball and basketball teams, which was not nearly as bad. He spent most of the day with his fellow Class Representative, Sora Akaike, as they got on fairly well anyway, as well as a couple of his other 3B classmates. They mingled a bit with the rest of their class, and other main campus students, but mainly just stayed at a side, where they could watch the various matches unfold.

Sticking close to Sora also had the advantage that he didn't need to go near the school-run refreshments stall that had been especially set up, for she'd taken it upon herself to get refreshments for the people she was spending the day with (for reasons that eluded Ueno). It was something he was grateful for. After all, it was none other than 3E who had been relegated to setting up, running and later clearing up the refreshment stall, as well as tidying up the debris that an entire junior high cohort could make. Naturally, this meant that the rest of the third-years, and even many of the underclassmen, had plenty of opportunity to pick on the 3E members, and while Ueno knew that he could not be kind to them, he did not want to directly be horrible to them either. A full-on blanking out approach seemed the only way to go forward, and it had served him well across the year so far, save for that whole library debacle with Tada just before the mid-terms, of course. _It would not have mattered if I didn't have friends in 3E._ It would, admittedly, be harder to completely blank them out given that they were all in a particular concentrated area, but the nature of the event meant hordes of teenagers milling around and crowding things around, which helped.

So for most of the day, he muddled along nicely, enjoying the general supportive atmosphere and the feeling of being a _part_ of something. His tactic of just ignoring 3E worked well, except for one blip when Sora came back with cookies, and he bit into one, only for the taste to recall that day in the second year when he'd gone to Tada's house to study for the end-of-year exams. But that wave of regret was one that disappeared as soon as the cookies had been swallowed, and so it was easy to put that aside.

 _Too easy, wasn't it?_ A little voice taunted him as he turned his focus to his fellow spectators rather than the match that was going on. He shook the voice away, not wanting to think about that now, and just watched the students around him. All things considered, it was quite a good day- everyone seemed happy, and the weather was good, and the teams were all doing quite well too, which certainly helped the mood.

As Ueno looked on at the happiness, and revelled in it himself, he spotted Eka weaving through the crowds of students, clearly heading somewhere. She looked a little anxious about something for some reason, for she furtively glanced from left to right as she moved, and was hunching herself up to be smaller, almost unnoticeable . That just would not do. He turned to ask Sora if they should call Eka over, but it turned out that Sora was a little further away, talking to her friend in 3C, so he decided to take on the responsibility himself.

"Udemae-kun!" At the same time, the hordes eased up a little, allowing Eka to slip through an opening, so she didn't hear him, and that turned out to be a good thing, for the crowd opening also allowed Ueno to see that she was heading towards a tall girl with glasses and a pretty girl in a wheelchair, neither of whom he recognised immediately… _a…wheelchair? Oh, wait, that would be Yukimura-kun, wouldn't it? She was on the gymnastics team with Udemae-kun, if I remember correctly so that other one is….Kasai-kun? Are they not both in 3E now? What's Udemae-kun doing?_

Turning slightly so it just looked as if he was not watching anything in particular, Ueno watched the girl as she caught the attention of Jori and Fuyumi, and noticed how she seemed to straighten and lighten up, her whole being appearing to light up as she chatted with them about topics both serious and silly, if the range of facial expressions were anything to go by. Occasionally, Eka would point to someone or something and pull a silly face, or she'd reach over to pull Jori's face in response to something she said. In general, she seemed …very _different_ to the Eka that Ueno saw every day in class. That Eka was an indistinct one who greeted people politely, scored consistently well on her tests, got on with her work stoically, continued to attend gymnastics religiously, and just generally keep her head down. She didn't break any rules, but save for when with the gymnastics team members, she seemed happier being unnoticed.

But this Eka, the one he was seeing here, seemed more happier, content, and even stronger. And it didn't make sense. It didn't make sense that she'd be able to talk so easily and genuinely to the 3E students, when the Kunugigaoka ethos demanded otherwise. _How is she doing that? Why is she doing it? They're 3E, that's not how these things work._ As he asked himself that question, he noticed that she still furtively glanced around, and so it occurred to him that in much the same way he was taking advantage of the crowded event, she was doing the same, even if it was for different reasons. But even so, the question remained.

" _You're not, are you, Nii-san?" Not wanting to lie, Ueno just nodded faintly. Aimi let out such an exasperated huff of air, Ueno found himself surprised at the fact that Aimi was still only in fourth grade._

" _Why?"_

" _Why…I, well now, it's complicated, you know, especially because of school…." Ueno hedged, not sure what to say, because Aimi didn't need to worry about Kunugigaoka. Apart from his existence, she didn't have anything to do with that place, and that was how it should be._ It'll be so much better. Then she won't ever get to be as torn as I am right now.

" _Pfft, school. Nii-san, you know I love you right?" Aimi burst out randomly as she re-tied her bunches. Ueno blinked again. Clearly, his off-day feelings were contaminating the rest of his cognitions._

" _Well of course."_

" _Except, you're a really, really, really huge idiot!" Aimi pouted impressively at this, leaving one bunch untied to plant her hands on her little hips again. "And if you don't know why you're a big idiot, then you're a MASSIVE, MASSIVE IDIOT. Okay?"_

" _Okay….." Ueno shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and then shrugged. "I guess I'm a massive idiot then."_

"Oh. Of course." Ueno face-palmed, the answer rushing at him all of a sudden. Aimi had been right all along. The answer was bleedingly obvious. They were _friends_. They'd been friends before third year, and if he remembered the rumours correctly, in the case or Jori and Eka, they had a connection that stretched back to before their entry to Kunugigaoka in the first place. _Just like with me and Ruko-kun. Our friendship hadn't had anything to do with Kunugigaoka…and yet I let it become everything to do with Kunugigaoka and….that shouldn't have happened, should it?_

"But I still don't get how….." Well, in a way, he did, because common sense dictated that now he'd understood, he would need to talk to the people he'd left behind. The trouble was, they were still in 3E. _But Udemae-kun is doing it._ "Argh, dammit."

"Hey, Ueno-san, is something the matter?" Ueno jumped as Sora appeared suddenly, her grey gaze unblinking as she regarded him. "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know."

 _And 'madness' could so easily be a route into 3E, the end of it all._ He winced mentally at the automatic thought, already beginning to hate what he believed in despite his better instincts.

"No, I'm fine, Akaike-kun. Just remembered something that needs to be done at home. It shouldn't take too long to resolve, but I should have remembered earlier."

"Oh, for god's sake, I keep telling you to address me by _first name_ , but whatever." Thankfully, Sora seemed to accept the lie, as she had been friendly with him when the upheaval surrounding Souji's arrival at his house had occurred.

"Just, you're a rep too, so try not to get too swamped. Anyway, enough of that. Here, have a soda."

"I won't get swamped. And thanks, Sora-kun." He took the drink and allowed himself one last glance at Eka, who seemed to be saying hurried goodbyes as she was walking away quickly and twisting back to look at them before she joined a crowd to watch the final baseball match of the day. He, too, turned to watch the rest of the match, and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong, that he was the same as always. But in his mind, Ueno was thinking over things, everything from memories of Ruko and Aimi's scolding to the betrayed look Tada had levelled at him on the day of the results and the scene he'd just witnessed.

 _It seems that maybe, I don't understand anything at all. I certainly don't understand how Udemae-kun is able to keep up her friendship with those too despite everything. But now I've seen her, I want the chance to do the same. I_ need _the chance to do the same, or I won't be able to look myself in the mirror anymore._

 _So I'll just need to ask her._

 **…**

"Hey, that isn't the direction you go home in, is it?"

At Tsukuda's query, Tada stopped and turned to look at her quizzically, and his nose wrinkled a little in confusion as he computed what she'd said.

"But I'm not going home yet." He explained. "I'm heading to the hospital."

"You wha- oh, right, your godfather, right?" Tsukuda remembered just in time. "How is he?"

"Much the same, as far as I know. He hasn't woken up, but he isn't getting worse, either. "Tada looked across the street at nothing in particular, making Tsukuda want to stride over and wipe away the sadness from his face by any means possible.

"And, I don't often get to visit Karasuma-sensei these days. What with studying, and cleaning duties and the like…" he continued in the same wistful manner. "I guess I just want to take any chance possible, I guess. I might even dictate my homework to him, just for the hell of it."

At the idea of that, Tsukuda laughed, for she could imagine that the way Tada reported his homework based on the stories she'd heard him tell. This made a small smile appear on Tada's face. He sighed, and fidgeted a little. Neither of them said anything for a while, but neither of them moved.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't ke-"

"Do you want to meet him? Karasuma-sensei, I mean? Do you want to meet him?" Tada blurted out suddenly, his eyes wide and hopeful. When Tsukuda could only blink at him, he sighed and lowered his head, scuffing at the ground. _No, wait, hold on, I'm not refusing you, just let my brain catch up!_

"Sure, I'll come."

Tada looked up wildly, his light green eyes meeting her own brown ones. When he did so, Tsukuda could see the faintest shade of pink mar his cheeks, though she was a few paces away. She'd noticed that Tada generally didn't blush very easily while his sister seemed to do so too easily, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was even aware of the instances where he did blush, never mind it's faintness. But of course, that wasn't even relevant at this point in time. _Pull yourself together Hanae, you moron._

"You….really, you're sure?"

"You asked, didn't you? Besides," Tsukuda gave a one shouldered shrug. "I don't really have anything better to do. May as well come to meet someone important to you."

To punctuate and underline her point, she walked the few steps to Tada and stood by his side. He beamed at her gratefully, and looked as if he wanted to say something to thank her, to which she shook her head. _You don't need to thank me._ He nodded at that, and then they walked in the direction of the hospital where Tada and Hiro's godfather currently resided.

It didn't take her long to realise that it was the Kunugigaoka General Hospital they were heading towards, and she was glad of that. She wasn't sure what she would have done if it had turned out to be one of the private hospitals her parents had worked at. Of course, she wouldn't have backed out of a promise to Tada, but she didn't relish the idea of going into the hospital where her parents had often coaxed her to visit as a child so that she could see the benefits of the medical career she didn't want. _That, and I can't be bothered to deal with a mini-lecture or patronising remarks._

They chatted lightly about different things as they got to the hospital, and continued to do so even as they entered the hospital, and Tada led the way up towards the room where his godfather was.

"Hold on, Hanae-Chan." He told her when they reached the door. "Let me just…"

He opened the door slightly and peered around it.

"Ah, you're _still_ here, Bitch-sensei." Tada laughed as he widened the gap and went in the room.

Tsukuda spluttered at this term and followed him in to see who he could possibly be calling that. _And I thought he was the less weird one when it came to nicknames._

"No, Tada, I'm not 'still here'. I'll have you know that I did go out earlier for lunch with Touka."

The response came from a blond, well-endowed woman of about 50 or so years of age. She was dressed in clothes that, although relatively modest, were clearly fashionable and designed to showcase her various attributes. She sat on a chair next to the bed which contained the man who could only be 'Karasuma-sensei'. The first thing that Tsukuda noticed about him was that he was breathing on his own, although for obvious reasons there were still tubes and monitors attached to him. _This is a good sign, it really is, all things considered._ As Tada and the blond woman chatted to each other in a sarcastic yet clearly affectionate way, Tsukuda observed other details- that he had apparently been in good shape for his age, his severe facial features, and the fact that rather than standard hospital clothing, he was dressed in a simple pyjama set. _I wonder who took the time to change him. Was it Tada, or Hiro? Or maybe their aunt?_

"Hanae-Chan, Bitch-sensei wants to know who you are." Tada tugged at her arm, halting her random collection of observations for the time being. Again, Tsukuda spluttered at the term, but this time, she looked to the woman to see how she felt about the name. Apparently, the answer was 'reluctantly resigned', for she swatted Tada lightly before rolling her tired (yet still pretty) blue eyes and fixing her gaze on her.

"Please excuse this moron. He and his sister inherited my rather unlovely nickname from their mother, not to mention the rest of her class. I'm actually Irina Jelavic, and I think I'd like it if someone called me _Irina_ for once. "

At this, the woman smiled self depreciatingly. Tsukuda nodded, still a little fazed. _Ah, a foreigner._ Naturally, she didn't state this obvious statement aloud, and opted to introduce herself.

"I'm Hanae Tsukuda. I'm one of Tada's classmates in 3E, and a Class Rep as well. "

"Ahh, so _you're_ Hanae. I know about all the drama, what with there being three of you and all that." Irina waved her hand in a slightly dismissive gesture. "I've been listening to Tada yabber on whenever he's managed to drop in, not to mention I get to hear it all from the rest of Hinano's classmates anyway."

"Like Aunt Touka." Tada put in.

"Like Touka." Irina confirmed. "Anyway, Tada, get Hanae a chair. Don't you know how to treat a woman?"

"Yeah, I get it, Bitch-sensei." Tada chirpily said as he obliged and got two chairs from the corner of the room, which he carried over and plonked down next to Irina's own chair. He took the one next to Irina, while Tsukuda sat on the other one.

"Hey, Karasuma-sensei, I brought a friend along with me today, I hope you don't mind. It's Hanae-Chan. You know, my Protector of the Small? I thought it would be nice if you two had a chance to meet at some point, and since all the timings seemed to work for today, I guess you're meeting her today. So, Tadaomi Karasuma-sensei, meet Hanae Tsukuda-Chan. "

"H-his given name is Tadaomi?!" Tsukuda had not known this before, and now she looked over at the comatose man in a new light.

"Yeah, he's my namesake, aren't you, Karasuma-sensei?" Tada laughed. Of course, he didn't answer, but all the same, Tsukuda looked to him as if he would. _Tadaomi Karasuma and Tadaomi Kitakawa, huh?_

"Who named you for him?" Tsukuda asked, genuinely curious. Irina shook her head a little to toss her hair back, and she answered the question.

"Hinano, of course."

Now, that was a name that Tsukuda _did_ know- Tada's mother's name. And since she was aware that Karasuma had been Tada's mother's teacher when she'd been a 3E student, that meant that… _this is that rich socialite woman that Tada mentioned back at that first meetup with Isogai and co. The one who became their second teacher. Oh wow._ Tsukuda tried to clear her head, and to think of something to say to Karasuma. While she did, she watched Irina lean forward and rest her hand on Karasuma's forehead, as if she had just brushed away a misbehaving lock of hair, or as if she was checking his temperature. She muttered something, and although Tsukuda couldn't discern anything apart from the word 'Tadaomi' she found herself averting her gaze, because the emotions were just so…evident.

"Well," Irina reverted to Japanese again when she leaned back in her seat and adjusted her clothes. "You'd better wake up soon. There's a lot of dinner to catch up on."

"Every time Bitch-sensei is in Japan, she makes a point of taking Karasuma-sensei out to dinner. She did the same with Mum, and a few others from that class. But mainly Karasuma-sensei."

This last sentence was said in a teasing tone, causing Irina to try and swat Tada again. He just dodged slightly, and laughed.

"So, Karasuma-sensei, I'll tell you about what I've been up to. If Hiro drops by she'll tell you what's been happening with her, too. Hanae-Chan, wanna help me out?"

"Huh? Oh, sure…." Tsukuda was aware she was a bit goldfish like at that stage, but mercifully, Tada took over, and talked and talked. Indeed, being the storyteller he was, he did most of the talking. And as it turned out, for Tsukuda, it was easy for her to join in, because she ended up doing so when Tada specifically paused at a point in the story to invite her in. It was…an interesting experience. And she was learning more about Tada from it, and that, to her, was always a good thing. _I should find a way of telling the stories of my life to him. I'm no word magician, but I think I'm going to try that out one day anyway._

Eventually, Tada finished with his telling, and he yawned and rubbed his eyes, before leaning across slightly so he could drop his head on Tsukuda's shoulder. She shuffled closer so that it was more comfortable for both of them, and they both looked over at Karasuma for a while. Irina, meanwhile, fussed over the man's bedclothes and the like, in a way that seemed pissy but also incredibly tender.

"Apparently they used to date each other for a few years before we were born, and they lived together for a long time before that. Hiro and I have just known them to be really good friends." Tada whispered to her as they watched, still leaning against her shoulder.

"That's pretty amazing. Imagine having someone like that. "Tsukuda whispered back. "That's _literally_ the definition of 'no matter what'."

"Mhm. I want something like that."

"You want to have a romance to end with you both still remaining friends?"

"No, silly, I want to have a 'no matter what'." Tada was whispering still, and it was in a joking tone, but out of all the things that Tada had revealed (or had revealed for him) about his life so far this year, this had to be the most raw thing she'd ever heard him say. _I'll fill that space then,_ she thought to herself, but rather than communicate those words to him, she decided to just show it in her actions from there on.

"Right, of course, that makes more sense. What was I thinking?"

"Ah, I dunno. I'm not psychic, Protector of the Small."

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Irina turned to regard them, one hand on her hip as she regarded them. Tada straightened up, and then pulled a face at Tsukuda.

"Nothing!" he responded cheerily. Irina narrowed her eyes at him, and then sighed heavily.

"Argh, never mind. You two should probably head home now. Don't you have homework or something to do?"

"Yeah, we have homework or something." Tada got up, and Tsukuda followed suit, and they went to get their bags, which Tada had left in the corner of the room when he'd gone to get the chairs.

"Bitch-sensei, are you staying here?"

"I'm staying for a while, but don't panic, Tada, I'll retire to the hotel soon. But I'm only in the country for three more days, so I may as well stay for as long as possible-and no, don't say what you're going to say, because I know that already."

Tada chuckled at this, and so did Tsukuda, because the response made Irina seem somehow younger than her age. _I've somehow already got a sense of what type of teacher Karasuma-sensei must have been, even though he was the only one who didn't talk. But I wonder what sort of teacher Irina would have been. I can't imagine her as one…but, I can tell she would have cared, so I guess that's good enough._

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you later." Tada nodded, breaking Tsukuda out of her reverie as he then turned to bid Karasuma farewell. Tsukuda also turned to look at the sleeping man one last time. _Tadaomi Karasuma-sensei…I hope you're happy with Tadaomi Kitakawa, if you're somehow able to see how he is now._

"We'll be heading off now. Karasuma-sensei, I'll try and drop in again as soon as I can, okay? Stay well, now."

"Yeah, stay well now." Tsukuda added, finding the right things to say to Karasuma at long last. "It was good to meet you. So I guess I will be tagging along the next time Tada comes along. Hope you don't mind that. Anyway, bye for now."

It had been an impulse thing, to decide that she'd join Tada the next time he came here, but the way Tada looked at her when she said it was like she had been given the entire world. _So I'll definitely keep that promise._

"Come on then, Tada, let's go." With a burst of joy, she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" he protested happily. "I'm coming!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."


	30. If I Could, I Would, part 1

**Replies to Guest Reviews:**

 **KuroNeko: Yes, Ueno is starting to see the error of his ways. And to be honest, I agree about Tada/Tsukuda. Then again, I'm writing it, so of course I would, lol. Anyway, many thanks for the review, and I hope you have a good day too!**

 **Ah, and while I'm at it. A couple of reviews have asked about Kei, given his POV section in the last chapter. So, since it isn't really a spoiler, I'll just clarify things- he's the twins' half sibling- all three Aoshima children have the same mother. Kei's own biological father died. As for the twins' father, the reason he isn't 'technically' a stepfather to Kei is because he isn't married to their mother. Hope that helps. Anyway, I'll be replying to those new reviews individually later, once this is actually uploaded.**

* * *

 _Well, this is an interesting start to the morning,_ Tada thought when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Maeda appeared in front of him, Fuyumi, Jori and Koujiro, incensed and not making much sense as ranted, preventing them from moving any further.

"You-you 3E losers must think you're funny, huh?" Maeda waved his fists around in a threatening but also vaguely lunatic manner. "Don't you know when to admit defeat and hang your heads like the dogs you are?"

"I'm sorry, what did you call us?" Jori's eyes were flat as she stepped forward, but her voice was wobbling in a manner that matched Maeda's current threat level. But of course, the 3A boy wasn't intimidated, and instead just laughed.

"Oh, you heard me. But what's the issue, really? Like anyone is going to care!"

Tada held back a gasp, or indeed any other expression, as they were all brutally reminded of Okikura's rule. Instead, they stared each other down, Tada and the others bunching around Fuyumi and her wheelchair, with Maeda in front of them, not ready to leave or to back down. People flowed past them, some barely noticing the disruption in their path, the others glaring at them as they did so. Tada and Fuyumi both often broke their stares to silently apologise to these people, but he figured that asking Maeda if they could move to a side to continue this would not work out so well. So, they waited.

"Do you have a specific problem with us?" Tada eventually managed to ask. Maeda stepped back a little, and for the first time seemed just a tad unruffled. _Hah, there's a point for us._ But of course, it didn't last, and his usual firey sneer took over his face almost immediately.

"Yes, actually, we _have a specific problem_." He parodied Tada's voice, before taking his bag from his shoulder, opening it, and extracting two sheets of paper from it. As they were rather rumpled, he took a moment to straighten them out, and then shoved them in Tada's face.

"Explain these, 3E Rep!" Maeda managed to make '3E Rep' sound like some sort of infectious disease, but Tada neatly ignored that as he took the two pieces of paper and studied them. And then, a grin broke across his face. For the first piece of paper was one of the hand-out editions of the posters Sugaya had assisted Reimiya and the others in the making of around two weeks ago.

"Ah, so you managed to pick up one of our adverts? Brilliant!" Koujiro exclaimed with mock cheer. "Good to get more people on the cause, eh? You should visit our site- the link is right there- but if you have questions, I'm sure good ol' Tada-kun here can help."

"Pah, imbecile! We're not worried about that." _It's interesting that Maeda keeps referring to 'we' every so often._ "Do you really, seriously, honestly think that anyone will take you seriously?"

"I would imagine that newsletter you're holding is giving you the answer." Fuyumi's quiet voice neatly sliced through Maeda's temper, leaving him a bit unruffled once again. Tada smirked, because the 'newsletter' that Fuyumi was referring to was the second paper that Maeda was holding. It was a photocopy of a page from a school newspaper- Asahikara High School's paper- and while it was not the front page, it was a page with a very prominent article headlined 'Is the famed Kunugigaoka really what it says it is?'. And Tada knew that in that article, there was a reference to Okikura's rule, as well as the incident from the Kyoto trip.

"Just so you know, this still doesn't mean anyone is going to care about you! People happen to _like_ the results Kunugigaoka get, you know. And those people are far more than those of you in 3E? Not that you know- you probably can't even count to ten!" Maeda sniggered at his own joke, such as it was.

"So why bother us while we're trying to go to school, if the fact that my friend from a different part of Japan managed to persuade his school's newspaper to write about Kunugigaoka? If it doesn't mean anything?"

"You stupid dog!" In a rapid moment, Maeda whipped his hand out, either ready to grab Tada by his shirt collar, or to just deck him, but Tada was quicker and had learnt how to fight back and protect himself from the best, and so he quickly ducked to avoid the movement, and then reared back and out of reach of Maeda. Then, he straightened again, but readied his posture for another attack. Jori, still flat eyed and tired, moved to make Maeda's access to him just a little more difficult. Fuyumi did the same. Maeda gave a harrumph of disgust and lowered his hand. He then opted for the lofty approach.

"You may as well to give up now! Shouting and making a fuss like spoilt children isn't going to work. You'll just get reprimanded like brats should do."

"Thanks for the warning, Maeda-sama." Jori intoned. Tada winced at the indicator of her lowered mood, but Maeda just laughed. He scrunched the two pieces of paper meaningfully and gave them a dark, threatening look.

"There, see, at least someone knows her place. You'd all better hurry up and catch up, or it isn't going to look so pretty for you."

Before any of them could respond to that, Maeda turned swiftly on his heel and strode off. They watched him recede, throwing the handout poster and the newspaper photocopy into a bin as he did so. Tada sighed as he watched the boy disappear, and rubbed his eyes. _What on earth was that all about?_ He turned to tell his friends that they, too, should head for school when he felt the sensation of pairs of eyes staring, and he turned to see a bunch of elementary school children staring at them. No doubt the drama had interested them, which was why they were standing there, but some of them looked a little afraid, too.

"Are you guys okay?" Tada asked kindly, hoping he came across as reassuring. The children looked amongst each other, as if hoping one of their peers would answer for all of them. Tada held back a chuckle and shepherded them all (his friends as well as the little children) to a side before kneeling down to the children's height.

"Did we scare you? I'm sorry if we did."

"Why was that boy shouting at all of you?" one of the girls, who had wavy pink hair in huge poofy ponytails, asked. Tada sighed. How could he answer that?

"He…just doesn't seem to like us very much, I guess. "

"Why?" a boy with short blond hair and very wide dark green eyes questioned. "Is it because pretty ribbon lady is in a wheelchair? If it is, that's mean! My Mama says you shouldn't be horrible to people with wheelchairs or walking sticks and things like that because they can't help being like that, and so it isn't fair."

Tada glanced over at Fuyumi, who seemed very much taken with being referred to as a 'pretty ribbon lady'.

"I think that's one of the reasons, but I think it's kind of bad luck." Fuyumi offered.

"Like you all ended up in an unlucky dip?" the poofy ponytailed girl queried querulously. Another girl, who was the most neatly presented out of all the children in the small group, mock-shoved the girl and rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at her before turning to Tada and the others.

"That's silly, isn't it? You don't get unlucky dips! You get _lucky_ dips! And you don't get those in school because school isn't like a festival or a funfair or something, right, well, unless having a school festival or whatever, I guess? It's probably something like they're all in the same club that the horrible boy doesn't like or they are all in a class that he likes to bully just because they're that class or they're all part of a big friends group that the same things happen to! Am I right?"

 _They are all in a class that he likes to bully just because they are that class._ Tada studied this particular girl. She seemed to be about 9 or 10 years old, the same age as these other children- _almost Miori's age, as it happens-_ , but there was something older and mature about her. Not to mention familiar, although he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Yes, I think you're right. That's what it is, more or less."

"But bullying is BAD!" another boy wearing a neon blue t-shirt protested. The green eyed boy nodded solidly at this.

"Can't you tell a teacher?" he asked. Tada sighed, not sure how to answer that.

"We've tried. It doesn't really work." Jori explained, briefly patting the boy's head. She seemed softer around the edges somehow, when talking to these kids, and Tada took that as a sign that her mood was lifting.

"It should work otherwise what's the point of being a teacher?" the mysteriously familiar girl announced. She scrunched up her face in thought and then seemed to have another question occur to her. "What about that leaflet thingy? Was that a bad thing too, or does he just not like it because it is yours? Can we have one?"

Flummoxed by the last question, he glanced over at Fuyumi, Jori and Koujiro. They, too, exchanged looks between each other, before nodding. Jori handed Fuyumi her bag and she went through it before extracting three of the handout posters.

"You can get someone to photocopy them, if you want." She said, handing them to the girl who had asked. She beamed at them, and then nodded determinedly.

"Okay then. Thank you very much, and I think we should be going to school now."

"Yup." Tada confirmed, getting up. "We should do the same, ourselves. Get to school safely now, won't you?"

"Yes, mister!" the poofy-ponytailed girl chorused, the others chiming in happily.

"Bye-bye, pretty ribbon lady!" the blond boy added as they all dashed away, chatting and giggling as if they'd forgotten their previous scare. It didn't take long for them to turn their journey into some sort of game of chase, led -rather inexplicably-by the neat girl. Tada stared after them again, and then turned to his friends.

"Well then," he decreed. "Let's head onwards, then."

 **…**

Asami found herself more than a little cheesed off when Hasegawa, Otsuka and Maeda walked through the classroom door and beckoned Fujimura and Otonashi to them with little more than a steely glance and a finger beckon. And it wasn't particularly helpful to her mood that they could both clearly tell that Otonashi was talking to her in the capacity of Class Representative, and yet they didn't seem to have any regard for that, and so even though he gave a brief bow in apology, she confronted them.

"Could you give us a few more moments, please?" she asked with a veneer of courtesy as she stood up and crossed over to them. "We're talking over something important and it shouldn't take long."

"Sorry, but this is more important." Hasegawa told her. "But I appreciate what it is you're doing for the class as a representative, so I'll make sure Otonashi-kun gets back to you as soon as we've gone over this other little thing."

Somehow, Asami felt as if she was being fobbed off. And even if Hasegawa was the Student Council President and therefore someone she respected, she didn't want to stand for that. _But be careful in how you go about things, otherwise you'll end up like Kei._

"Well then, may I join the discussion? If it is to do with the class then I think I'm entitled to know."

"Pffft, it's fine, the five of us have it sorted." Maeda cockily proclaimed. Hasegawa fixed him with a look at this, and he squirmed. Fujimura regarded her curiously, Otonashi just appeared even more sheepish, and Otsuka (as seemed to be her default) sneered silently.

"She doesn't know, does she?" she asked Otonashi, angling her body towards him but still looking at Asami in a way that was very disconcerting. Like most average Kunugigaoka-attenders, Asami did not like Otsuka one little bit. She could not figure out what the bluenette's deal was, acting like everyone and everything was beneath her, but still keeping in with Hasegawa and his little posse. Sure, a certain degree of ruthlessness and hardness was required in order to succeed, but not to the point of cruelty. And, although Asami was loath to admit it, many of the things Otsuka had said to Class 3E during Student Council meetings were out of line. So it was with this contempt that she gathered the strength to stare Otsuka down in return.

"What do I not know? I'm hardly omnipotent, you know, so if I'm meant to know something I do need to find out about it."

Maeda laughed at this, and Otsuka just snickered. Hasegawa didn't reprimand them though, and just regarded her, also in a disconcerting manner, the effect amplified because her opinion of him was not nearly as low as her opinion on Otsuka. _What is all this?_

"Aoshima-san, it isn't that big of a deal, really. It's more to do with something that directly affects us as the five we are, and not anything student council-y, so we're not leaving you out." Otonashi explained, almost pleading in his delivery. He did not actually hold his hands out in a gesture of supplication, but he got very close to it. Asami sighed. She found herself thinking of the conversation between Hana and Izzy that she'd overheard snippets of. _But we could always punch a hole through the sky, you know?_ She wasn't sure why it came up, but coupled with that 'She doesn't know, does she?' from Otsuka, it wasn't about to leave her alone.

"Oh, what, is it something to do with the Virtuoso's secret club or something?!No entry unless a qualified Virtuoso!" she retorted, only half joking. The so called 'legend' of the Virtuosos, a team that consisted of the members of 3A who were consistently the best in a particular subject, headed by the one 3A member who was top of the game in all the subjects. It was a worthy thing to be part of, but she didn't understand why they had to be so cultish about it.

"You could call it that." Fujimura, who had stayed blissfully (or maddeningly, depending on the view) silent up until then. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he wasn't bothered either way.

"Sorry, Aoshima-san." Otonashi apologised. He looked uncomfortable now, clearly waiting to go and get on with whatever Hasegawa had planned for them, and so she just sighed, and gave in.

"Okay, fine, whatever. I'm tracking you down later though, because our Class Representative duties need to be carried out too."

"I will make sure it happens." Hasegawa told her. "Thank you for your understanding."

As this was clearly a dismissal, Asami slunk away and went back to her seat, silently fuming. She was sure they were lying about something, but what? What was it that the Virtuosos were allowed to know that meant she couldn't? _Why did they even bother with picking me as the Female Class Rep if there wouldn't be any point to it?_

Annoyed and getting nowhere with it, she looked around to see if any of her friends had arrived, and spotted Hiro sitting at her desk, reading a book whose title she couldn't make out from the point she was at. It occurred to Asami that Hiro, with her aptitude in maths, could have easily become a virtuoso and have therefore gained access to the special status, but she had wanted no part in that and had made those feelings clear- an opinion beyond Asami's comprehension. _Or maybe not so far off…..they're utterly maddening._

With that, Asami decided to just forget it for now and she stood up again and went across the room, this time to say hello to a friend.

 **…**

"There's a man coming up the hill! Why is there a man coming up the hill?"

Yamada's shrill voice surprised Tada and he jolted a little, nearly dropping his lunch. Swallowing, he put down his wrap and bento box, and pulled a face at Akira before standing up to get a better look at Yamada, who was at what was almost the highest point on the cherry tree. Azama was on a slightly lower branch, and he nodded at Tada.

"What do you mean, there's a man? I don't see anyone." Tada glanced over to where the path started.

"We have a bit of a vantage point up here." Azama said. "He's coming up, and you'll see him in a moment. He's tall, has strawberry blond hair that's fairly shiny, and appears to be wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. That's all I can tell from here."

"Who is he?" Yamada asked again.

"Tada-san cannot possibly know, he hasn't seen the man yet, Yamada-san."

"Oh, right, okay? Because he's still on the ground?"

"Exactly."

Tada ignored the exchange between the two tree climbers and scanned the area, waiting for the man Azama described to appear. He wondered who it was, for he could not bring to mind anyone he knew who matched that description.

"There." Akira pointed, and sure enough, there was a smartly dressed, strawberry-blond haired man approaching them, briefcase in hand. Tada guessed his age to be similar to that of Isogai or Maehara. He appeared to be scrutinising the surroundings, and his eyes- a light grey-ish purple- widened for a moment when catching sight of Kinomoto's flowers. Whether this was pure surprise, or surprise mixed in with interest was not something Tada could discern. Certainly, the rest of his expression was unreadable.

"Excuse me." Tada stepped up to catch the man's attention. "Are you looking for something here?"

The man turned and studied him intensively. Tada resisted the urge to squirm.

"I suppose you are Tadaomi Kitakawa-kun." He said eventually. Tada nodded hurriedly.

"Yes, I am, you can call me Tada though." _Gah, you need to dial down on that habit, Tada._ The man didn't seem unduly affected by this information, and just seemed to take it in, as if adding it to some database kept in his head.

"You're the only son of a former 3E member, aren't you? And not just any old 3E, either. It seems the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree whence it came, in the end."

"Uhh…." _Not just any 3E- what does that mean?_ "Did you know my mother, then?"

"He might have, but it's not likely, considering." Tada whirled around at the sound of Izzy's voice and just gawped as the boy loped over to the man, seemingly unruffled by his apparent status. Kuroba followed behind, also just as unbothered, except that he moved in such a way that it seemed as though he was passing on a message to the man- _I can counter with you with as good as you have- and better._ This time, Tada didn't bother concealing his shudders.

"And who might you two be?" the man enquired.

"I'm Seijuro Kuroba, and that is Izaya Arisato." Kuroba stated shortly. "But really, we should be concerned with who you are."

"Touché." The man smiled almost imperceptibly. "By any chance, are you from _that_ Kuroba family?"

Clearly having a better idea what the man was on about than Tada did, Kuroba nodded.

"I see." Again, the man did not seem particularly affected by the revelation, and instead appeared to just be storing it.

"So then, will you clarify who you are?" Eriko and Tsukuda appeared, and settled themselves either side of Tada, as they tended to do when the three of them were facing something or other. Kaori followed, and went to sit near Akira, while Kuroba and Izzy stayed where they were in much the same way that Azama and Yamada remained in the tree. The man regarded them all and nodded.

"Very well. It would be approaching rude if I went further than this without doing so. My name is Gakushuu Asano, and I have a feeling that a few of you will know exactly what that means, so I won't clarify that."

 _No way._

"Tada, what is it?" Tsukuda asked, poking him anxiously.

"His father is the guy who built this very school, Tsukuda. Did you not know this?" Kuroba demanded.

"Clearly not or I wouldn't have asked." Tsukuda snarked back. But she rapidly lost interest in Kuroba and turned to Tada, who shrugged at her. _I do not know why he is here either._

"You got disowned. Why are you here?"

"Izzy!" Tsukuda scolded. Tada shook his head slightly. Izzy was crass, as usual, but that was not the point. Truth was, he actually had raised an interesting concern. Why _was_ Gakushuu Asano here?

As if reading their various thoughts, Gakushuu Asano nodded, again with the faintest hint of a smile.

"I just wanted to see what this class was about." He said. Then, he knelt down, set his briefcase out in front of him, and opened it. Naturally, it was filled with neat folders and piles of paper, but there was a wallet that looked handmade, childish and clearly some years old that had the word 'Dad' emblazoned on it with craft rhinestones. It was a detail Tada picked up on and filed away in his mind as he watched Gakushuu finally locate whatever it was he was looking for, and pull it out. Then, he put everything back into the briefcase with an amazing speed before snapping the locks shut and standing up. Then, he held out something they all recognised- the Ending the End Class handout poster.

Tada blinked, momentarily transported back to the day before, when Maeda had confronted them about the poster. _Did they somehow manage to get Asano-san into this? It would be oddly fitting._

"Could it be you're trying to protect the legacy your father left behind, despite everything?" Eriko asked stoically.

"The Chairman was no father. And as you seem to know full well, I have no interest in this school. "

"And yet you're here, standing and holding a poster out at us." Izzy airily countered.

"Ah." Gakushuu nodded, a little nonplussed. "That, I suppose is a point. I'll modify my previous assertion- I'm not involved with Kunugigaoka in any way, and I have no real interest in its affairs. However, this is an intriguing matter for me."

"Which would mean you came here independently." Tada concluded, somewhat relived. "Is there anything in particular you want to know about Ending the End Class? It's a step by step, brick by brick process, but it's still something we're working at."

"What makes you think that I would have come here on someone's orders?" Gakushuu's composure slipped just a little more, but not so much that it actually seemed to be affecting him. _No, wait…_

"I'm more curious as to how you think this plan of yours could ever work."

"Why?" Tsukuda demanded hotly. "Because we're 3E?! Because we're meant to be the lowest of the low in this school?"

"Did I not just say I was no longer interested in Kunugigaoka?" Now, the silky voice that Gakushuu had used throughout the exchange had cracked, showing signs of annoyance and possibly some long-ago resentment. As a result, all the students in the vicinity gawked. Even Kuroba raised an eyebrow. Gakushuu let out an annoyed breath of air and closed his eyes for a moment before they flicked open to stare at them. The actions made the colour of his eyes intensify, and so Tada stepped back a little. _Woah._

"If I could have ended The Chairman's system, I would have done so long ago." He stated blandly, folding the poster with a determined finality and slipping it into his pocket. It struck Tada as an out of character gesture for the son of the long-feared chairman, but how would he know?

"Clearly, you didn't hear Kitakawa's words. Step by step, brick by brick. "Kuroba countered frostily. Tada looked at him, surprised that Kuroba would take those words on-board in the first place. For his part, the imposing redhead just raised an eyebrow at Tada that revealed nothing.

Gakushuu, for his part, just tipped his head at Kuroba, almost respectfully, but also challengingly, as if to ask him _what could you possibly know?_ The challenge, if it was one, did not have a chance to be met as it was at that moment that Ichijou unexpectedly shuffled outside to join them for the remainder of that lunchtime, a glass of orange juice in hand.

"Ah, it's so good to see so many of you enjoying the outdoors on such a nice day. It seems to me that adole-ah, hello there, may I help you? Are you related to one of the students? Do you have a concern?"

"No, no, nothing like that." All of a sudden, the silkiness was back, and Gakushuu crossed over to shake Ichijou's hand. She shifted her juice glass to respond to the gesture, still confused.

"I'm guessing you're their class teacher. You must be very proud of the little project they're trying to pull off. It's very interesting, it is, and I like the catchiness of 'Ending the End Class' as a title."

"I…uhm…thank you?" Ichijou stammered, clearly clueless. _Oh, no._ Tada and Tsukuda exchanged a look, both filled with some foreboding.

"Ah." Gakushuu didn't react to the clear indicator that Ichijou had no idea what was going on. Instead, he let go of her hand, and inclined his head respectfully. "Well then, I have to depart now, but I am looking forward to seeing how things progress."

Whether that was a threat or a promise was not elaborated upon, as Gakushuu subtly dusted himself down, and then turned tail and headed back down the hill with purposeful strides. They all stared as he disappeared from sight. Yamada and Azama came down from the tree, and approached them, with even the calmer, more esoteric part of the duo clearly full of questions. But none of those were as large as the question Ichijou asked them all next.

"Now, could one of you explain to me what that young man was talking about?"

* * *

 **Bwahaha, a cliffhanger! But it sort of needed to happen, given that basically up until now Ichijou has been oblivious to her students' cause. In a sense, some of the credit for this goes to Let'sWriteDis, because what Gakushuu says about how he would have ended the system already if it was possible is something that she has him say in her own story, albeit in different circumstances, and that inspired me in figuring out this part of the story.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, and tell me what you think!**


	31. If I Could, I Would, part 2

**Have you guys seen the latest manga chapters? CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED? I can't, not really (I just read 173 about ten minutes ago). I just...goddamn cliff-hangers. I don't know what to think. And what about the second season of the anime? Have you all been watching that? The latest episode did a great job, I think, especially with the code names bit ('Da Densest' is the best name, lol). Still a bit cheesed off at he exclusion of Takebayashi's arc, but I can't deny that overall, the second season is as good as the first.**

 **But anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

"Now, could one of you explain to me what that young man was talking about?"

Ichijou hadn't _actually_ repeated the question, but it seemed to ring in Tada's ears as he thought of the best thing to say. _Should we have told sensei earlier? After all, we've been doing some of our work right under her nose._ A little stricken, and still ruffled by the random appearance of Gakushuu Asano, Tada beseeched his fellow Class Representatives with a look. Tsukuda shrugged back at him, while Eriko sighed and rubbed her face. All the while, Ichijou waited patiently, looking at the three of them with something that was definitely not anger, but wasn't particularly happy, either.

"Just start with the basics." Kuroba's voice was more than enough to convey the 'for God's sake' that he didn't actually say. It was enough to reorient Tada, and so he did indeed start with the basics.

"We're aiming to take down the whole idea of 'Class 3E' by the end of the school year. So by the end of the year, there won't be one anymore. "

Ichijou didn't say anything to this at first. She just blinked owlishly, the way she was wont to do and sipped from her orange juice carefully, as if considering things.

"So….what would that mean?"

Tada was thrown, once again. _I…did Ichijou-sensei just ask that?_

"That the current second years won't be afraid of ending up in 3E next year, because there won't be one to end up in." Eriko stepped in to answer. "It means that there won't be one concentrated spot of endemic bullying and fear mongering in this school, and that people won't be able to get away with such things any more. It'll mean that people who attend this school won't have to fear punishment for doing the right thing, and that it'll be okay to not fit some narrow definition of something that is never specified. It means a lot of things, Ichijou-sensei."

Although Eriko's voice and manner were as stoic and solid as they usually were, her words were still infused with a lot of fire and sparks, to the point that everyone nearby stepped back a little, slightly dwarfed. _Eriko-Chan…_

"This is something the whole class is working towards. It's not the responsibility of the representatives alone." Azama unexpectedly put in. Everyone swivelled towards him.

"After all, it didn't take just one person to put up the various different monuments we venerate today, am I right? So I think you should hear what the rest of us have to say. I'll gather them up. Yamada, help me?"

"Why?" came the almost predictable response from the moon-obsessed girl, who had been looking up at the sky at that very moment.

"To make things more efficient."

With that, Azama and Yamada sauntered off to round up the others, as it were. Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko all looked at each other and shrugged. _Somehow, it isn't surprising that Azama-kun's explanations for things end up sounding more confusing than his original statements._

Ichijou finished her juice with some finality and clapped one hand against her glass, making a soft and largely unimpressive thwacking sound that nonetheless made them turn towards her.

"Well then, since you're all so eager to tell me about this thing you've been doing, let's go inside. It might be easier there."

"That sounds like a good idea." Tada said carefully. "Right, Hanae-Chan, Eriko-Chan?"

Tsukuda and Eriko nodded, and then they followed Ichijou inside, the others coming in soon after, either because of Azama and Yamada's shepherding, or simply because they'd been in earshot of the preceding conversation. And, once they were all there, they all automatically complemented each other as they attempted to explain their various roles and aspects of the Ending the End Class project- Ayako and Izzy explaining the blog, Tsukuda and Haru talking about self-defence, Reimiya and Akira explaining the posters, Ruko talking about photo evidence, Tada explaining how they were challenging the assumptions held by the main campus, and Fuyumi tying all the explanations together, since she had been carefully logging the various things that had happened, as per her self-administered admin role. The others filled in the bits they could and added their own opinions, all creating what Tada hoped was a vivid enough and compelling enough picture to convince Ichijou that they had been doing something worthwhile. _We_ have _been doing something worthwhile though._

Eventually, they ran out of things to explain- after all, the first term was not even finished yet- and their arguments drifted away, and they all turned their faces towards Ichijou, hoping and waiting. Even the perpetually absentminded, like Kitabayashi or Yamada, or the ones like Yukiyama and Kuroba who didn't seem to care about the class all that much waited, agog. Tada, for his part, had to try his best to not leap out of his chair and beg Ichijou for some sort of forgiveness.

"Well then. I can safely say that I've never had any students quite like you before." This was all Ichijou said before she lapsed into thoughtfulness. A moment passed, and then another, and another. Incredulously, Tada turned to Tsukuda. _Is that all she's going to say?_

"Hey, do you think she's fallen asleep again?" Tada heard Ruko ask Ayako. But before Ayako could whisper an answer, Ichijou blinked and continued on.

"It's clear to me you've been working so very hard, children. I'm almost sad that I didn't know about it before. As a teacher, I should be able to acknowledge and celebrate my students when they do such good work. And it's community work as well, the type any teacher would be proud of. I would have liked to have been involved in this right from the start, even if it was just so that I could tell that nice young man who knew about it all that yes, I am very proud of this special class of mine. To bask in the reflected glory, if you will."

 _Pffft, not here, not in Kunugigaoka. We're not special here…but then again, that's the point._ Hirigi's muttered retort and a careful clearing of the throat from Kuroba matched this observation of Tada's. Not to mention, he had to wonder if the feelings Gakushuu had shown them were those of approval, if he was indeed 'nice' as Ichijou had deemed him to be. But Ichijou had more to say.

"Yet….since you've managed to get this far by yourselves, I'm not really in any position to tell you what to do with this. So I won't. Just….I'd like it if you asked me for help, with anything you might need that is related to this. Anything at all. I don't really know much about how you would make something like this succeed, but as your teacher, I'll make myself available. And as your teacher, I'll stay in the back wings while doing so, as this is your work and that is how it should be recognised. So…..is that fair enough?"

It took Tada a moment to realise that Ichijou was inviting them to answer her, with that very hopeful and slightly dopey look of hers.

"Y-yes. Yeah, that is alright, Ichijou-sensei. "Tada managed to get out. "And…I guess, on behalf of all of us, thank you for being so understanding. Right, guys?"

Tada turned around in his chair to look at everyone. They all nodded at him. Ichijou beamed at them all and clasped her hands, clearly pleased.

"It's not a problem, Tada-kun. You are all such wonderful children, after all. Now, we don't want the rest of the day to go to waste so we'd better start the lesson now an-Oh. "

"What is it, sensei?" Koujiro asked.

"After all that flurry, I think I've forgotten what lesson was scheduled for now!"

 _Seriously?!_ The entire class sweat-dropped, and quite a few physically facepalmed. When Tada caught Tsukuda's eye, she rolled her eyes and grinned conspiratorially. It was Haru who eventually pulled herself together to help Ichijou out.

"It's History, Ichijou-sensei."

"Ah, yes, of course!" Ichijou flicked through what were presumably lesson plans on her desk, then went to the board and picked up the chalk. "Okay then, let's begin!"

"At least this means things with Ichijou-sensei are still normal, huh?" Tsuwabuki whispered from behind. Getting his meaning, Tada turned and gave him a thumbs-up, before settling back to listen to the lesson. _Yep, they are, and I'm glad of that._

 **…**

"Yukiyama-san, are you not going home now?"

Yukiyama turned to look at Reno and Reimiya, who were headed in the other direction towards the exit of the main campus. Admittedly, it would be brilliant to get the hell out of school, but home wasn't much more appealing, he didn't have a shoot to head to, and there was someone else worth waiting for still in the building. So he shook his head.

"No, I'm not." He told them simply.

"Could it be you're going to be waiting for someone?" Reimiya asked, tilting her head at him, her unique eyes wide with the question. _Chihiro. My girlfriend._ So technically, it was more that they were 'trial dating', but even so, there was something special about being able to describe Hiro as his girlfriend, even if he only did it in his head. But it was this internal admittance that allowed him to be more magnanimous when answering his classmate.

"Yes, I am."

"Should we walk you there?" Reimiya looked up at her … _cousin? Brother?_ "Hey, should we, Reno?"

Reno turned to regard him in a way that would be frightening if he hadn't had grumpier people to deal with before. _Like the old man._ So Yukiyama just stared him down. It wasn't really as if he wanted them to tag along, but he knew as well as the rest of them it was safer to be together given what the school climate was like for them, so he could sort of understand why Reimiya would ask him about it. That, and Reimiya seemed to naturally be the type to worry about those around her, and if Reno didn't know that as whatever he was to her then, well, it wasn't his problem.

Of course, because he wasn't a complete arse, when the silent stare-down stretched out and began to edge into awkward, Yukiyama chose not to say all that. Instead, he just sighed and rubbed his face. _I'm tired._

"It's not really a big deal. I'll be walking back home with the one I'm waiting for, anyway. You two should head on to your home."

"If you're sure." Reno responded doubtfully.

"I'm sure." Yukiyama asserted. Reno nodded at him, then turned to Reimiya.

"He'll be fine, Miya-Chan. Let's go home now, Mum and Nii-san'll be waiting. " Reno ruffled Reimiya's hair and then nodded at Yukiyama. "See you later then."

"Goodbye, Yukiyama-san." Reimiya chimed in. "Get home safely."

"Yeah." Once the two turned away and continued to walk back, Yukiyama turned and headed to the dance studio, where the Dance Club was practising in anticipation of some competition or other that was taking place during the summer holidays. Hiro had no idea he was coming in to wait for her, but since her club practise and his main-campus cleaning duty had coincided, he figured it would be nice to surprise her. A simple gesture, not one that was too clingy, but one that he knew she'd be ecstatic about.

When he got there, he noticed a few other students in the seating area, presumably also waiting for some of the Dance Club girls. He didn't want to strike up cheery conversation with a bunch of people he was likely never going to ever associate with, so he found somewhere to sit that was as far away from them as the seating would allow, and concentrated on spotting Hiro. From the distance he was at, it did take him a moment, but he soon spotted her in the middle of the posse of dancing girls. She wasn't a lead dancer, but she seemed fairly prominent in the routine anyway, and was able to keep up with the chorus of the song, which, rather fittingly, had a vague reference to dancing in one of the lines. At least, from what lyrics he could make out.

"Ra-ta-ta-tai ni natte sa odorikasou, we know, we know, kimi no honshou…"

Yukiyama tipped his head to consider the music. It was a catchy song, and it had a good crunchy sort of tune to his type of song by any means, but then these days he measured song standards against the eternally haunting 'Hello Shooting Star'. _And that isn't a dancing song by any means. At least, not dancing in a group with all that snazzy choreo. Maybe a slow dance, a special dance for just two people, performed in a ballroom with other likeminded couple….argh, damn it! Stop letting your imagination run away with you, Saito! It's too soon to want to slow dance with her!_

"Who are you?"

Yukiyama gawped at the girl who had sidled over to where he was sitting. It appeared that she, too, was waiting for someone.

"What's it to you?" he snapped. The girl's wide dark green eyes widened even more, and she held out her hands in mock surrender.

"Woah, don't bite. I just never see you here. I mean, Cooking Club always finishes earlier than Dance, so I come to wait for my sister every time." The girl gestured over to the dancers vaguely. "So I get a good idea of who comes to wait- other sibs like me, friends, and a few boyfriends….oh! You're a boyfriend, aren't you, sempai? "

"…Yes." There was no reason to lie, and maybe to answer her would mean that she'd shut up and leave him alone. But no such luck. She grinned and her cheeks pinked, and some of her pale purple hair fell across her face as she leaned forward inquisitively.

"Oooh! Whose boyfriend are you? One of my sister's friends? Nee-Chan is in the third year, and you seem maybe that age or…oh my gosh, are you from the high school?!"

Apparently, someone from Kunugigaoka High coming over to visit the Junior High was a big deal, if this ridiculously energetic girl was anything to go by. Yukiyama barely suppressed his groan of annoyance.

"No, I'm in the thir-"

"What are you doing here, 3E boy?" Both Yukiyama and the girl turned to face a tall golden-skinned girl who had come over from the group to get a drink of water from the bag she'd left nearby. The other girls were doing similar things, although Yukiyama could spot one girl going over a little section of the previous dance routine with a couple of others who were evidently struggling. The girl raised one perfectly shaped black eyebrow at him.

"Oh…you're in 3E. That…explains a lot." The enthusiastic grin had dropped off from the chatty girl's face and she began to edge away, still staring at him, but now it was as if he was some sort of wild animal. _Oh for crying out loud!_

"You were talking to him?" The golden-skinned girl turned away from Yukiyama for a moment to concentrate on the younger one, who turned to her with a bug-eyed look of incredulity.

"He's someone's boyfriend, Nao-sempai!"

"You are?" Nao swivelled back to Yukiyama, and he felt the full weight of her disapproval. "Really now? Are you sure you're not just here to satisfy your perversions?"

 _With what, exactly?_ The dance outfit was basically a pair of black leggings and a matching long sleeved t-shirt with white plimsolls. A couple of the girls had their own short sleeved t-shirts which they had pulled over the ensemble. All in all, it was actually a rather modest outfit. He should know. Nao lifted her head and looked down her nose at him. Yukiyama rolled his eyes and turned away quite deliberately from her.

"Why, you, answer my question!" Nao steamed at him. He glanced over at her, noticing that she was now staring at him full on. Though he wasn't facing the younger girl, he knew that she was starting at him too, clearly thrilled in some way by this storm in a tea cup. _Good grief._ He refused to engage with her, and instead looked around him to see if he could spot Hiro again. And, with almost perfect timing, she broke away from the group of girls she'd been with and headed towards the seats, along with another girl.

"Yo, Nao, what's with the face?" the other girl reached them first, and Yukiyama instantly realised this was the older sister of the younger girl, for her hair was the same lavender shade, though her eyes were a different shape and a more chartreuse shade of green.

"Nee-Chan! There's a new face here! He says he's a boyfriend, but he won't tell us who!"

"I am _here_ , you know." Yukiyama couldn't help but mutter. Nao shot him a disgusted look.

"Etsuko, he's in _3E_!"

"Oh, is he? Ah, then maybe Hiro'll know!" the girl-Etsuko- turned and waved Hiro over. "Yo, hurry up, Hiro! We have something to ask you!"

Hiro pitter-pattered her way over, looking at her friends with a confused expression until her gaze shifted away and fell on him.

"Saito?" she tilted her head at him, and then leaned against the barrier to regard him. "You…don't usually come here?"

"We had main campus cleaning duty, and I remembered you had club today. So, I guess, do you want to walk home together?"

Hiro went pink and a huge smile spread across her face. She nodded once, firmly, and then grinned at him.

"Woah, sempai, he's _yours_?!"

They all turned to the younger girl, whose eyes were almost lovehearts. Etsuko sighed and rubbed her head.

"Gee, Sachi, have a cookie! "She said sarcastically. "And why's it such a big deal anyway?!"

"But Nee-Chan….." Sachi whined.

"Chihiro-san, what's gotten into you? Don't you have….well, better taste?" Nao asked, fixing Hiro with an incredulous look. Hiro's happy look faded as she turned to her friend.

"What's the big issue?"

" _3E_!" To an outsider, Yukiyama had no doubt that this answer would be classed as one that 'explained nothing'. But in this pointless circus of a school, it made a whole lot of sense.

"Ah, that's true. And a bit unfortunate. "Etsuko said. "Hiro, are you sure?" she nodded towards Yukiyama, and Hiro narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, I'm _sure_." Her voice came out thicker than usual, and not just because of her gritted teeth.

"Right…well…"

"Ugh! I actually cannot believe this!" With that, Nao stormed across the room and left them.

"Gaah, Nao!"

"Nao-sempai!"

Hiro didn't call across to her friend, and turned straight back to him.

"We're almost finished, so you won't have to wait too much longer." She told him. He detected a note of resigned apology in her voice, so he patted her head, a little hesitantly, but hopefully in a comforting way.

"It's fine."

"Wow, even though you're in 3E….well, I dunno. " Etsuko shook her head, clearly confused. "You're not going to try and get _into_ 3E now, are you?"

Hiro threw the classic are-you-a-moron look at Etsuko, causing her to laugh and hold her hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Let's get back to things now, okay? I'm not finished with this, and I don't think Nao is either, but for now, I'll just flow with it. Sachi, you be careful and behave yourself, all right?"

Sachi cheerfully bounced as Etsuko dragged Hiro back into the middle of the room. As she did so, Etsuko turned and flashed Yukiyama a sceptical look, signalling to him that she didn't trust him. This was fine by him, really. Mostly because he hadn't expected much from the main campus anyway.

The rest of the time was fairly uneventful, save for Sachi being the same annoying pest (although now she kept her distance and was less smiley as she went about it) she was at the beginning of the whole debacle. Hiro was one of the girls who decided not to go and change back into her full school uniform after it was over, especially given she had her old faded thin-knit strawberry-patterned jumper thrown over her dance clothes, so once she'd gathered her stuff together she waved Yukiyama over and they left as quickly as possible. Hiro waved to some of her fellow third-year members, but she didn't seem to want to linger, and as Yukiyama didn't want to either, they left quickly.

"Oh, gosh…." Hiro gasped once they were on the road and a good distance away from the school. She turned to him, and signed " _I'm sorry about that."_

"Don't be, it isn't your fault." He said, not knowing the signs to say it. "I probably shouldn't have come."

Hiro shook her head at that vehemently.

"No! Don't say that, Saito. I…it made me really happy that you came to see me! I don't care what they think about us! And I can't believe that Nao…I mean, they used to act as they don't care all that much about 3E because they know Tada a little but…argh!"

"Well, it's not as if it's any of their business…."

"Exactly. But…will you still come? Occasionally? If you want?" Hiro looked up at him hopefully, and he couldn't help but smile.

" _Sure."_ He signed hesitantly. Hiro beamed at his effort, and signed the words 'thank you' at him.

"You're improving," she told him. "I should teach you some more signs at some point, perhaps in the holidays when things are less crazy. But in the meantime, tell me about your day?"

She tilted her head at him, and he considered. Instantly, the first two things that popped into his head were the story of Maeda and the elementary school children that Fuyumi had relayed to them that morning and the second was that of the unexpected appearance of Gakushuu Asano, and the brief earthquake that had triggered in their lives. The first story he figured he could leave for her brother to tell her, as Yukiyama himself had not actually been around for that one, but the Gakushuu story? _Well, I could try. I think it would be nice to get into the habit of sharing tales like this._

"Well, something rather interesting happened today…"

 **…**

" _If I could have ended The Chairman's system, I would have done so long ago."_

Hana found that out of everything that Gakushuu's interval had brought with it, this was the phrase that had stuck. _Long ago. I would have done so long ago. If I had known just how damaged Kei would have become, I would have intervened a long time ago._ Given that both she and Asami had been little fourth graders when Kei had entered Kunugigaoka as a first-year middle schooler with light still in his eyes, she wasn't sure if that would have been possible. Yet, now her thoughts were contaminated, and when she thought of the changes that had met her family, they ran in the same direction as the words that the son of Kunugigaoka's founder had uttered that very afternoon.

Chewing her pencil as she studied the string of problems on her revision sheet, she wondered about those words. How true they were. She knew from lunchtimes and breaktimes and occasional weekends with Izzy and Kuroba that even despite being disowned, Gakushuu Asano was relatively powerful in the world of business- _Didn't Ii-kun say something about him being the co-founder of a pharmaceutical company or something like that?_ – so it wasn't as if he wouldn't know what he was talking about. But at the same time, Gakushuu had never been one of them.

"Ah, I don't understand…" Hana murmured. She put the pencil down, for there wasn't really a point to holding it, and she leaned back in the chair she was sitting on. "Maybe I should just give up."

" _Hana_!" Asami's aggrieved scold startled Hana and she turned to look at her twin sister, who was glaring at her, eyes wide and vivid. Hana blinked. She'd actually forgotten that she was being 'tutored' by Asami for the end-of-terms. Just another thing to deal with.

"Maybe you should just go and study by yourself, Asami-Chan. I don't think I'm getting very far."

"But it's maths! You like maths, don't you? Surely it shouldn't be too difficult to just put a bit more effort into it?!"

"I do like maths but…" Hana picked the pencil up again, before putting back down. "I'm not going to do well…"

"Why so pessimistic? You've been doing well in those pop quizzes, haven't you? You don't need to do too much more than what you've been doing there to be able to return back to the main campus next term."

"But I don't want to return to the main campus." There. There it was. Now it was there between them, an inescapable truth. _I_ can't _return. Not yet._

"W-what?" Asami spluttered. She rubbed her forehead and gawped. "What do you mean, you don't want to come back?! Why? "

"Why, you ask…?" Hana sighed deeply, and looked down at her hands, thinking of all the origami birds she'd folded so far. Perhaps her time would be better spent back in her own room, folding more. She still needed more, to be able to End the End Class, and to free Kei. _He said if he could have, he would have. But…for some reason, I'm not so sure that's true. Because though the old principal was his father, he calls him 'The Chairman'. So…I need to stick around and find out, don't I? Even if I end up not doing anything…._

"You can't be serious though, Hana! Think about it! "Asami fumed, forcing Hana to look at her. "You know what 3E does to people! It's called the 'End Class' for a reason, so nothing good can come from you staying there! Don't you _want_ to succeed?!"

 _Kei. Onii-san, Kei-Chan. Kei._ Oh yes, Hana knew all too well what 3E did to people. She knew both what crying sounded like from behind a door, and what it looked like on the face of a girl who was always fighting for them. But that was precisely why she needed to stay. Otherwise, nothing would ever change. Hana looked at the way their chairs were so close together at Asami's desk, and then in her head, she measured the distance between their words and mind-sets. _How we should be, versus how we actually are. If it was no big deal as to whether I should go or stay, I'd join you again. If I could, I would._ But just as she could not understand Asami's feelings these days, Hana knew that she would not be able to understand her if she said these things.

"Answer me, Hana! Give me a good reason why you shouldn't get a good grade on your end-of-term tests, the Maths and English ones at the very least!I can't keep on helping you, you know. This is your last chance to actually redeem yourself."

"Can I even be 'redeemed'?" Hana queried, sceptical of this claim her twin was making. Asami groaned.

"Of course you can! Even if it's just to yourself, you know? Don't you have any pride, any self-confidence?!" Asami tapped the papers they had been working on meaningfully. The glare was still set on her face, but now there was a sort of pleading mixed into it.

 _Ah_. This, she could sort of get, she could sort of understand it, because although it was eroding as a result of being in 3E, Hana did have some sense of pride in herself. That, and even though the distance between them was not the distance that should have been, they were still sisters. So Hana decided to meet her halfway.

"It's not really that I want to do badly, in terms of grades." She felt each word carefully before drawing it out. "I'd like to do well, if I actually could. We all do, actually. Everyone in my class is working really hard, you know…"

The faces of Hana's classmates ran through her mind. Tada, Tsukuda, Izzy, Kuroba, Eriko, Ruko and all the rest of them. Her classmates and comrades, all working towards a common cause. She smiled wistfully, and picked up her pencil again before looking back at Asami.

"So, let's study together, okay, Asami-Chan? I'm not coming back to the main campus-I cannot do that- but I think it would be nice for us both to ace these things. So, shall we?"

Asami's glare fell away, and she quickly worked to cover the huge grin that spread across her face, although Hana could see it all too well. _We're twins, after all._ Then, she took some time to adjust the hairclips that held back various sections of her fringe, concentrating surprisingly hard on doing so. When she met Hana's gaze again, she was all business, determination and optimism colouring her features. She picked up her own pencil and then leaned in to study the specific revision sheet they

"Well then, we'd better not waste time! What was the next question again?"

* * *

 **The song I referred to in the Yukiyama POV scene was the Vocaloid song 'Idola Circus' ((I adore the Himeringo cover of it)). I actually wanted to put 'World's End Dancehall' into the scene but I had the Idola Circus lyrics in my head, and I was too lazy to search up the World's End Dancehall lyrics. Speaking of Vocaloid, I just came across a song called 'Ghost Rule'. I think it's relatively new, but since I don't properly follow Vocaloid things I can't be sure. Anyway, after listening to that many times -both the Japanese ver and Rachie's English cover version (Jayn's Piano/Guitar arrange uses the same lyrics as Rachie's)- I cannot help but think the song matches Kayano very well, particularly in relation to her background. That, and with what happened in Ch173 there is something chilling about the similarity. But maybe it is just me. Whatever, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, please leave me feedback!**


	32. Escalator System

**The awkward moment when you realise you didn't save the finished version to your home computer and need to delete the uploaded document, go find your USB, and start the upload process again...basically, I keep back-ups of the chapters, both finished and in progress, on my USB (and finished chapters get backed up on Dropbox), but I mainly work from and upload from my family computer unless circumstances dictate otherwise. Usually, I remember to make sure the most recent version is in both places when a chapter is in progress, but apparently I didn't do so this time...I feel like such a cheeseball. But anyway, that blip is sorted now.**

 **I'm starting to think this story is going to end up as more than partially AU, given the latest manga developments, but I'm still going to list it as a part AU. But anyway, on the other hand, I feel very satisfied that Yanagisawa disintegrated, to the extent that I've started to disturb myself. But enough of my babble, I'll just reply to the Guest reviews- I really need to get better at doing this every chapter and not just every few-and then you can all read (and hopefully enjoy) this chapter!**

 **KuroNeko, chapter 30 (If I Could, I Would, part 1): Ehehe, glad you liked the chapter. And those little kids are cute, aren't they? ^^**

 **KuroNeko, Chapter 31 (If I Could, I Would, part 2): YES HIMERINGO!3 But anyway, yes, 'Hello Shooting Star is pretty special. And I'm glad that you find the way I write Hana to be interesting. Thanks for your reviews, as always.  
**

 **CR, Chapter 31 (If I Could, I Would, part 2): All in good time, all in good time...anyway, thanks for the review! ^^**

* * *

"Ah, good morning, Udemae-kun. Do you have gymnastics practise today?" Ueno couldn't believe his luck when he went through the school gates at the same time as Eka. He had been planning to snag her at the end of the day, after the Class 3B End-Of-Term study session he and Sora had planned, so that he could ask her about how it was she was able to freely talk to her 3E friends.

"G-good morning, Ueno-san. No, not today. We had a rather late practise yesterday, and since quite a few of us have study sessions, we decided to postpone today's practises. We'll definitely be catching it up later though!"

Eka perked up visibly at the thought of returning to gymnastics again. Ueno decided not to just dive into the things he wanted to ask, as that would be more than a little off putting, and so he kept up the small talk. Not a big deal, since he was good at talking to people. Usually.

"That's good. Although keeping up academically is of course of utmost importance, being able to continue your extracurriculars is a good thing too. So, are you coming in to see a teacher or something?"

"Actually, I was going to get a couple of books from the library, to help me with English, and Literature as well."

"Ah, I was thinking of doing something similar, and I do have some books to return anyway. While I can't say I'm the best at those subjects, I can recommend you some books if you like?"

"A-ah, you don't need to, Ueno-san!" Eka blushed a little, flustered. "I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Ah, it's not such a big deal real really. Like I said, I was thinking I'd do something similar, except I want to get some Social Studies books and a couple dealing with Chemistry word problems." Ueno said smoothly. Eka scrunched up her face to consider this, and then shrugged casually.

"If it isn't such a big deal…"

They walked to the library in near silence, and once Ueno had handed in the books he had finished with, they headed quickly to the rows and rows of shelves and began browsing for the books they wanted. While they did, they commiserated over the things they enjoyed and hated about various subjects. Eka was surprisingly hard to talk to, not because she was unsociable, but because she always avoided talking about herself and just yielded to his conversation topics. But he did find out that she preferred studying using diagrams to map all the important information out, and that she did gymnastics outside of school as well.

Eventually, their arms became so full of books that Eka suggested they could go to an empty table to sort out what they had. As soon as she had made that suggestion though, her eyes widened and she stammered, trying to take it back.

"No, no, I think that's a good idea." _I wonder what made her so unwilling to put herself forw-no, wait, I know what the answer to that is, because it's where we are now. In any case, I should take the opportunity to ask her, otherwise when will I do it?_

"As it happens, Udemae-kun, I want to ask you about something so I do think it'll be good if we could sit down. "

"Ask me about something?" Eka tilted her head. "Am I in trouble?"

"Nothing like that! Besides, if it had been that a teacher would have approached you, not me. Depending." Admittedly, some between-student disputes were handled by Class Representatives, but that was beside the point.

"Oh, I see. Then…?" They found an empty desk, and once they'd checked the corresponding time to be sure the table wasn't booked for an early session, they put their books down and Eka sat down on one side while Ueno settled himself on the other and began to pile his books up neatly. Eka moved to do the same, but accidentally knocked a couple off the top of her pile. Ueno caught them before they made a noise and handed them back to Eka, who covered her face with her hands for a brief moment before she took the books back.

"What I wanted to ask you about was your friends, how it is you were friends in the first place….." realising that some clarification would probably help, Ueno stopped and re-evaluated before continuing. "Jori Kasai-kun and Fuyumi Yukimura-kun? The two girls from 3E, they were on the gymnastics team too, no?"

"I-I-uh, how did y-you know that they're my friends?" Eka scrunched up the material of her skirt with one hand and stared at Ueno, a deer in the headlights. "I-I'm not slacking in my studies or breaking any rules or anything. "

"I didn't say you were." Ueno was quick to reassure. "I just want to know- how do you manage it? I saw you during the games tournaments and you were talking with them and you just looked…really happy. Really content, and healthy and just like a typical happy someone of our age. Like someone who doesn't go to this school."

"Mhm, I sort of wish that I didn't come to this school in the first place." Eka murmured, seeming to forget herself for a moment. "It's not a good place."

"No." he said. "No it isn't. Which is why I want to know how it is you manage to defy it and still be friends with your friends."

Ueno reached into his pocket and felt for the poster that he'd kept carefully folded in there, the one Aimi had unexpectedly handed over to him the evening before, proclaiming that ' Ruko-nee-san's class friends had this, and gave one to me after a really angry boy from your school was yelling at them'. _Ending the End Class,_ the poster had proclaimed in a rather interesting logo, followed by links to a blog and a Facebook page, as well as some bullet points explaining what the title meant _._ He'd followed the links on the poster as soon as he'd been able to after that and suddenly a whole lot of things made sense. Not everything, hence why he was here, but some things. And he had become ashamed of the fact he'd once placed so much pride in being a Kunugigaoka student. It was nothing to be proud of, really. _I need a new identity. A second chance to be someone that's actually worthy of success. Not a tyrant like this place._ He considered asking Eka if she knew about the project that 3E were running, but he didn't want to overwhelm the evidently self-conscious girl anymore, so he just decided to see what insights she could offer regarding friendship.

"I'm not as b-brave as you seem to think I am." Eka answered him, her face bright red still. "In truth, I don't want the main campus students to notice me doing anything wrong, and I-I wouldn't want to end up in 3E, because even if my childhood friend and a respected teammate happen to be there, it's still the worst place to be. I-I w-wouldn't be able to achieve if I was stuck there….and honestly, the games tournament was a bit of a f-fluke, you know? Since it was so busy and crowded, it would be easier to hide, so that's why I talked to them during school hours. Otherwise, I only talk to them outside of school, such as when Jo-san attends the local gymnastics club with me, or sometimes we go visit Fuyumi-san's place. Or we use social media, you know?"

"I see…." Ueno frowned a little and rubbed his forehead. _I still don't understand…_

"But I think all of that is also why I'm still friends with them, you know? Because I understand that 3E is something that happened to them, and that it isn't right….Jori, you know, in first and second years, she'd come across all the bullying that happened and get so upset about it, more upset than when she didn't do as well on a pop quiz that she liked…and I could kind of see that logically, it didn't make sense that Kunugigaoka could be claiming to be producing well rounded adults in a culture like this one. That, and well, Jo-san and I were friends for ages anyway, and why is it the school's business who we were friends with?"

 _Ah. Ah, I suppose that makes sense. I just wouldn't have been able to see it before, because I wanted to be a part of things so badly my mind was prepared to reinterpret everything as good. I wonder if this'll help me fix things though. As Aimi said, I'm a massive, massive idiot. I'm so sorry, Ruko-kun, Tada-kun, everyone._

"So, if you had ended up with a rift between you because of 3E, then how would you try to fix it? Would you fix it?"

"Oh, I would!" Eka exclaimed. Then she paused, and frowned as she propped her chin on her hand. "I would try. I'd have to do it on the sly and I think that I would be too scared to actually do it sooner rather than later, so it'd be a long time before I did…but either way, I think I know I'd have to make the first move….but, you know, Ueno-san, I don't really….oh! Wait!"

Eka's face lit up again, and as she sat up she held up a finger to pause Ueno-not that he'd been about to say anything at that moment- and she thought about it.

"That girl….curly black hair, purple eyes, quite tall and lanky but a bit pear-shaped….she's speedy and quite flexible and seems good at landing on her feet from distances, definitely would be great on our team- because good jumping skills are difficult to come by-if it wasn't for the fact her diet must be awful if those sweets she was always chomping was anything to go by…Sorachi-san! She's in 3E too, right? The fujoshi girl!"

Ueno found it incredibly amusing that Eka seemed to remember Ruko in terms of her gymnastic potential first rather than her name or even her more bizarre traits. He chuckled.

"Yes, Ruko-kun is my friend. _Was_." _And that's not what should have happened but I didn't know it at first._

"Ah. " Eka said rather sagely. I see."

Neither of them could seem to think of anything in particular to say to that and so they both concentrated on their books, deciding which ones to put back and which ones they would keep. Ueno located some mini post-it notes to use as bookmarks in particular sections of the books he was going to borrow out.

"I think that you should make some space for Sorachi-san, and only her. Space to talk about things with her, and to spend time with her. "Eka said suddenly, making Ueno look up.

"Explain." Ueno tipped his head at her, curious.

"Well, it's what I said earlier about you needing to make the first move. I guess if you move something around to accommodate her in the process of reconciling."

"Hmm…" _I wonder when that could be. Exams are too fraught so it can't be any time soon. Perhaps in the summer? The summer stretches out long, so that would be a worthy way of filling my time. If I wasn't part of the escalator system I could have used high school as a new start, but that's too far anyway….oh. I know. I think I know how to begin this._

"I think you're right. I'll think of something, you'll see. Thank you very much, Udemae-kun."

"Oh, no, no, no." Eka waved her hands in front of her face. "It's not such a big deal."

"Oh, but it was. I needed a little courage, you see, and I needed to bounce suggestions off something to get that courage. So thank you." Ueno stood up at that point, and then gave Eka a quick and respectful bow. "Now, I think I've managed to sort out my books, so I'm going to check mine out. Have you finished?"

"No, but…" Eka quickly pulled out her phone to check the time, and then, clearly seeing a waiting message on her phone, unlocked it and quickly began swiping and tapping at the screen. "T-There's still time, so I think I'll stay here before coming up to the homeroom." She blushed again, and Ueno nodded calmly at her so she knew it wasn't an issue.

"Very well then, Udemae-kun. I'll see you there." He said over his shoulder as he retreated.

"Ah! Ueno-san?" The question seemed to spill suddenly out of Eka's mouth and Ueno turned and raised an eyebrow at her, his arms weighted down by books.

"What is it, Udemae-kun?" He jiggled the books around to keep things comfortable.

"I, erm, if it isn't too im-impertinent…w-w-what I said about doing gym with Jori outside…don't tell the school council or anyone, p-please." Eka clasped her hands together and screwed her eyes shut, her face creasing worriedly.

"I won't." Ueno stated simply, making Eka rapidly look at him again. He didn't say anything else, for there was no need to say anything else. _It's none of the school's business._ Instead, he just tipped his head respectfully at her and smiled, before turning and going to get his books checked out. After all, there were important things to study for.

 **…**

Throughout the day, Hiro had been increasingly tempted to just completely take out her hearing aids and put them in her pocket, thereby reverting her to what she considered her default. For almost the entire day, she'd been having to deal with most people in her class either coming up to her an asking about her 'rumoured 3E fling' or just whispering about it behind her back. She'd even heard adjectives such as _illicit_ and _affair_ being bandied about, as though this was some extramarital frippery from another era. Which also meant she'd had to deal with some sneering from the odious Otsuka and a mini-lecture from Hasegawa reminding her that embarking on a first romance shouldn't mean that studies were pushed to one side- _as if I didn't know that! –_ and some curious fish-eyed looks from Otonashi and the other two Virtuosos. She was surprised that Asami hadn't had anything to say about it, given her strict orientation, but she counted it a small blessing. Even so, being the centre of a new wave of Kunugigaoka gossip as opposed to the one that had surrounded her since soon after her arrival in this godforsaken place was the perfect catalyst for doing something important-which was where she was headed now. If she got it done now, then she'd still have time to eat lunch before the next lesson.

"Chihiro-Chan, aren't you coming down to eat?" Hiro turned to Asami, with whom she'd spent most of the day with, and shook her head.

"No, I need to talk with Principal Okikura about something."

"About what? Is it important, should I come with you? I'm guessing you're pretty pissed at all the stupid idiotic whispers."

Hiro smiled ruefully at that. It had only been yesterday that Yukiyama had come to meet her after dance, and yet it felt like the kerfuffle had been going on for years.

"No, not particularly." She explained. "I'm going to ask him about the entrance exams."

"Entrance exams? As in high school? We're on the escalator system, we have finals and then we'll go straight into Kunugigaoka High School. I mean, it's great you're thinking ahead, because I haven't even been thinking that far off but, did you not know that?"

"Yeah, I know all that. But I want to take entrance exams for high school, not the finals that'll get me through the escalator system."

"Oh, righ-no, wait, what?" Asami skidded to a halt before turning to gawp up at Hiro. "Why?"

Hiro slowed down too and raised an eyebrow at Asami's reaction. Sure, it wasn't the norm for a main campus student to do what she was going to do but even so, she wasn't a normal student.

"There are other high schools in the area, you do realise that, don't you? So I want to go to one of those."

"What's wrong with Kunugigaoka?" Asami made an expansive gesture with her hands. Hiro sighed. The question was one that she had far too many answers for, but there was no point in going into a rant here.

"That's not really the issue here, Asami." She tried to explain. "But I only came here due to circumstance, you know. I have no special reason to stay here."

"Uhh….because it'll save a lot of trouble, because Kunugigaoka is high on the league tables, because the high school is affiliated with lots of good universities, because the curriculum here will set you up for life? " Asami rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Like I said, this isn't the only school around, you know. There are plenty of schools around…." Hiro trailed off, surprised by the sheer intensity of feeling Asami seemed to have about this.

"That doesn't make any sense. And that just strikes me as really irresponsible. And a bit…codependent?"

Hiro tapped her foot- time was going by, and this was pointless. Why was it Asami's problem anyway? _Not to mention- who are you to talk about co-dependency? Argh, take a deep breath in and a deep breath out and…_

"We won't necessarily be. I want to go into fashion, for example, but Tada has other aspirations." She refused to elaborate on what those dreams of Tada's were. At this point, she wasn't sure it was anyone's business. "But that's not the point. The point is I'm deciding to try a different high school, so I'm going to opt out of the escalator system. When we get closer to the time, if I decide I'd rather stay here, I'll take the transfer students' exam. It's not that difficult. Anyway, we can talk about it later, I want to eat, so I'm going to go. See you in the next lesson."

Hiro resumed her steps, walking past a still stunned Asami, who swivelled around to watch her go as she did so. It seemed as if the shorter girl had been stunned into silence, but that was proved wrong.

"But…but….you're doing really well here! Can't you see that? You came in late, sure, but you're respected and doing well, you know. Even with your disability you've managed to stay on top of things- you could have just slid into 3E using it as an excuse but you didn't, and that's really great. So you shouldn't throw that away."

"I'm an _asset_ , Asami." _Forget restraint_. "I'm an asset, to the image of this school, something to hold up just so that they can say 'hey, look, not only are we smart, on top of the league tables and success story producers, we are tolerant and inclusive of difference too- see , that girl is a deaf orphan, but she's in the highest class.' I'm meant to be some sort of poster girl for the school, when it's all bullshit. Just bullshi-"

"T-that's going too far, Chihiro-Chan-"Asami spat out as she trembled slightly. She was clearly stunned, but Hiro wasn't finished yet.

"It's the school that is going too far. You're right about limitations not needing to be excuses, but they're still _limitations_. And we're social creatures, Asami, we're not isolated blobs, or islands, yet this school just tosses people out at the first sign of being different, of needing some help or support, and just calling it weakness, and stupidity."

Hiro stopped a moment to catch her breath, and for a moment closed her eyes to feel the movements of students milling nearby, meandering along or rushing past. She wondered how fast the gossip had spread, and how it mixed in with the hearsay about every other prominent Kunugigaoka student. _I don't want to be an asset anymore, you see. I don't want to be this dissected._

"If my hearing impairment hadn't been discovered while I was still a baby, if I didn't have such good family and friends to help me out and if I hadn't been so good with school work and dance, then I'd be one of those derided people too, you know. I might even have been in 3E, just like Tada and Hana. Then you wouldn't even have been my friend, would you? You would have just dismissed my strugg-"

Unexpectedly, Asami's eyes filled with tears. Her face scrunched up and her shoulders hunched upwards and inwards as if she was literally trying to herd the teardrops back inside her eyes, and her lips wobbled. Just like that, Hiro lost her steam and deflated, resigned. _Damn it, I went too far, didn't I?_

"Asami- I'm sorry. That was a bit uncalled for. I'm sorry." Hiro stepped forward and gestured appealingly to try and get the shorter girl's attention. Asami sniffed roughly, then lifted a balled fist to wipe her sodden eyes before staring at Hiro's hands. Hiro looked down at her hands and realised she'd been making the sign for 'sorry'. In an odd way, given the situation, this was oddly fitting.

"I'm sorry." She said again, signing the word again along with the phrase so that Asami would understand. She seemed to, for she gave a wavering laugh before she searched out a tissue to wipe her nose and eyes properly. She also dried the backs off her hands.

"I wonder if this is how to punch a hole in the sky…." She murmured. Or at least, something like that. Hiro was utterly confused.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Never mind." Asami straightened herself up, and then planted herself assertively so she was facing Hiro dead on. "How do you even go about removing yourself from the escalator system anyway?"

"Oh, I just need to ask Principal Okikura for a particular form, get that filled out, bring it back to him so that he can stamp it, then pass it onto the admin office for processing. "

"Erm…."

"It's all in _the manual_." Hiro took the rolled up booklet from where it was poking out of her bag and flicked through the pages, studiously avoiding the sight of Kunudon. "See. I thought you'd know that, given how often you tell us about the school rules."

"Tch, but nobody even needs to know that one." Asami snorted, but then the derision softened out and became something akin to exhaustion. "It's not relevant to those of us on the main campus….well, unless they're like you, I guess."

It was an acknowledgement of sorts, and so Hiro took it in the way it was intended.

"And I should probably go to get on with it. So…."

"I'll see you in the next lesson." Asami stated, sounding unsure about herself. _Still, she said it, so that's something, I guess._ Not wanting to spoil things more, Hiro just nodded at that, and began to head forward again, weaving through the crowds of people again and marvelling at just how huge the school must be to be like this even when lunchtime was under way.

But as she got to the higher floors and closer to Okikura's office, the corridors emptied out rather quickly, and she was soon able to move with relative ease and solitude. This was how she managed to perceive that someone was following her. Or at least, walking in the same direction as her with a similar destination in mind. But since she didn't want to get embroiled with any more main campus-goers anymore, she tried to avoid looking back at them until she was close enough to her destination that there wasn't anywhere else the person could be heading (apart from maybe the Student Council meeting room). So she turned.

 _Oh, great. That's the last face I want to see. Traitor._

"Ah, hello, Kitakawa-kun." Ueno said. It was his usual polite greeting, but he was not chipper. Indeed, he regarded her warily, just as she felt he should, considering the circumstances. She'd somehow managed to not interact with him throughout the year so far-a cold shoulder in exchange for the cold shoulder he'd given Tada and Ruko- but clearly that luck could not last.

"Ueno-kun." She would not give him any more than that.

"Ah-It's been a while, I guess. I hope you've been keeping well. Do you have some business with the principal?"

"Do you?"

"I suppose I deserved that…" was Ueno's surprising reaction to that. " But as it happens, yes. Not many people in the main campus actually know about this but…"

Ueno paused and unbuttoned his blazer to reach into the inner pocket, before taking out some booklet. He unfolded it and the flash of the idiotic Kunudon as he turned the pages revealed that this was a copy of the school manual. It didn't take him long to turn to the right page and show it to Hiro, and when he did, she couldn't hold back the gasp, for she had shown the same page to Asami just moments ago. _People keep surprising me today, it seems._

"Now, that's funny. I thought you were a complete Kunugigaokian. "Hiro commented as Ueno put the manual back in his pocket and they started walking again.

"'Kunugigaokian?' Was I that brainwashed?"

Hiro declined to answer that, and decided to just speed up. Ueno managed to match her speed, but with larger strides. There was an oddly pitying air around him, and it almost seemed as if the shape of his eyes had blunted.

"I suppose I was. But…I'm starting to think I need to re-work my values. So I'm going to opt out of the escalator system, and go somewhere else for high school. I presume you're going to do the same."

"Mhm." She nodded. "But, we won't necessarily end up in the same high schools anyway. I'm interested in fashion design, it's the field I want to work in, and Tada…well…"

" _Oh-ho, a fashion designer. That sounds good, little Hiro-Chan!" Maehara said, clapping his hands decisively and laughing._

 _Although she clearly hadn't a clue what was going on, little 5-year-old Ranko Sugino giggled and clapped too, giving a gummy and wobbly grin as she did so. Hiro steadied the younger girl as she nearly crashed into her legs, and hugged her close as she looked around the party._ So this is what Mama's parties are like, _Hiro mused, watching as Ranko's brother and sister-older but twins, like her and Tada, something she couldn't get over- chatted with Hoshiko, Satoko, Yuuki Tachibana and a couple of the older Yoshida siblings, while Arisa and Youko Okano giggled over something on their phones with Miyabi and Hiyori Maita, and Kaito snaffled snacks from the food bar._

 _Hiro also noticed Karma and Rio playing some kind of card game as Manami and Yada watched along with Megu and her son, Sora. She couldn't see her parents, or Isogai, or Karasuma, but she knew they were nearby so that wasn't such a big deal. It was just fun being here at this party, and while she sort of wanted to go to a quiet room and draw, she liked seeing all these other kids who were a lot like her and Tada._

" _So then, Tada-kun." Hiro turned back as now Maehara was questioning her brother. "What do_ you _want to be when you grow up?"_

" _Hmm." Tada hesitated over this, and Hiro, along with Kou, Kazuo and Miori, stared at him. He didn't answer for a bit, and then his face lit up and he grinned._

" _I want to be somebody's Papa one day!" he proclaimed._

"Tada-kun wants to be…?" Ueno prompted her. Hiro shook her head wildly, trying to get herself back out of the past.

"You'll need to ask him."

"You're right." Ueno pronounced. "I do. And I intend to. Anyway, we're here. I'll knock."

"Thanks." Hiro said, letting him rap on the door quickly and strongly. Okikura's voice didn't take long in responding, and they both pushed open the doors to go in. Ignoring the scenery that could be seen from the admittedly impressive windows, Hiro walked straight up to the desk that Okikura sat behind, and Ueno followed suit.

"Well then, Kitakawa-san, Ueno-kun," Okikura folded his hands and smiled invitingly. "What may I help you with?"

"We'd like to collect an opt-out form, please." Ueno, ever the Class Rep, took the lead and got straight to the point. Okikura cocked his head and regarded them quizzically.

"How surprising. Especially for you, Ueno-kun. "Okikura said mildly. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I am." Hiro put in instantly. She flicked a glanced over at Ueno, who nodded. Okikura propped his chin on his hand and regarded the two of them for a moment.

"Very well then, please hold on." Okikura got up and walked over to a filing cabinet, which he opened and began searching through. Hiro was a bit stunned- _is it really that easy?_ She did not dare look at Ueno.

"Right, here we go." Okikura came back to his desk, eased himself into the chair, and sat down. He had two sheets of paper in his hand, which he settled on his desk for a moment, before propping his chin on his hand once again and studying them. _Are we bugs under a microscope or something?_

"Now, I need to ask you once again. Are you completely and utterly sure that you want to go through with this? It would be a shame to throw away the golden opportunity you've been offered just by being here, you know."

 _No. I don't want a golden opportunity to be an asset._

"I wish to expand my horizons by getting a feel for different ethos." _How utterly Ueno-kun of him,_ Hiro considered wryly. _He hasn't been de-brainwashed yet. Not fully._

"I've made my decision." Was all Hiro deigned to offer when she realised Okikura was waiting for her answer. It seemed enough to satisfy the man though, for he straightened up and picked the pieces of paper up off the desk and held them out.

"Very well then. Take one each, and be sure to bring it back here for stamping before you get it processed. I'll let you both go now, so you won't be late to your next lessons."

"Yes, Principal Okikura." They both chorused. Hiro couldn't turn tail and head back out fast enough.

"Ah, I've done it." Ueno let out a huge sigh when they were completely down the corridor. "Finally, I can start making amends…"

"This is your way of making amends?" Hiro raised an eyebrow, stopping the folding she was doing. Ueno nodded and looked away, flustered. She studied him for a moment, considering. Not being a complete imbecile, she had an idea of what his thought processes were regarding that.

"You know, that alone is not going to be much use if you don't actually, well, try and talk to them about it."

"Yes, I know, bu- oh, hello, President Hasegawa."

Hiro startled. They had reached the stairwell and Hasegawa was just exiting it, heading in the opposite direction.

"I won't disturb you two," he said, inclining his head subtly towards the forms they were both holding. "So carry on, and I'll see you in class, Kitakawa-san. Assuming you'll be there?"

"Oh, why wouldn't I be? I know my priorities." Hiro fired back coolly. _And, see, that isn't Kunugigaoka._

"Good." Hasegawa pronounced, before striding onwards purposefully. _Grrr._ Hiro clenched her free fist. Ueno gave her an odd look.

"What was that about….?"

"Argh, nothing. You'll hear about it in the school gossip mills anyway." She dismissed, rubbing her forehead.

"Right….." Ueno sweat-dropped a little and they walked in silence as they went down the stairwell. When they reached the relevant floor, Ueno turned and stood in front of Hiro.

"I know about it, you know."

"Eh?"

"Ending the End Class. I know about it."

"Ah." Hiro nodded sagely, though she hadn't been expecting that. Ueno gave a brief thumbs-up, and then they resumed walking towards their homerooms. "Did you, uh…"

"A poster. I came across one of the posters. And….well, I need to tell them what I think of it directly, don't I?"

"Mhm... my brother and Saito and all of them…this means a lot to them. I think it would be important to them to know someone else on the main campus cares."

"I'll make sure that I get to tell them then, properly. That's why I got this, you know. So that I was actually carrying out an action and not just saying sweet nothings."

"I actually wanted to send myself to 3E." Hiro confessed. She held the form out in her hand looked at it, properly. "I _hate_ it here, you know? But I can't do that, because Tada will be worried, and get mad."

Whereas earlier in the year Ueno would have patronisingly dismissed the statement, now he scrutinised her with an almost melancholy stare.

"I don't blame him, to be honest. Especially of late, it's a hard place to be, and he seems like he's a good brother." They lapsed into silence for a moment, both of them thinking upon the school rule that had been formulated recently.

"You were happier at Riverside, weren't you? It was a better school, wasn't it? One that still values hard work but…well…."

"It was a more tolerant school, and certainly a more normal one." Hiro finished up. _It was never such a big deal that I was deaf, or anything like that. And sure, rumours got spread around and some people were arses, but the teachers didn't condone it. It wasn't Kunugigaoka. If you hadn't gone and died, Papa, I wouldn't have ever had to come here._

"I thought so. Even with the impressive results Riverside doesn't get much attention." Ueno shrugged. "Oh well. It hardly matters now, I guess."

"No, not really." Hiro agreed. She folded the form up and made sure it was safely inside her bag. "Well, I'll go ahead, then."

"Okay then, Kitakawa-kun."

* * *

 **Well then, what do you make of all that? Interesting? Surprising? Something else?**

 **For some clarification: The little flashback about Tada isn't really something that has a direct relevance to the plot, but it will have some indirect influence later. The reason I put it here was to serve two purposes: First, to give a little bit of insight into the type of person Tada is .The second reason is more of an excuse- to show you some more of the 3E Second-Genners. The flashback is roughly 5 years prior to the present time of the story, but Sora Kataoka is the oldest of the Second-Genners, at a year older than Ikuko Isogai. He is half-French, as it happens. And in case you are wondering, Ranko Sugino is the youngest of three Sugino's children, and has an unspecified developmental disability. The other Sugino children are 11 years older than Ranko and they are called Rika and Ryou.**

 **There are other Second-Genners that I mentioned, but I didn't want this to be too long so I'll leave those explanations for now. I was thinking of doing one long Tumblr post that would have all these Second-Genner headcanons listed. Would you all be interested in that? If/When I do it, I will put a link to the post in question on my profile for easy reference ^^ And speaking of Tumblr- I am still tracking that tag! Throw your fanart at me, please! :) :) :)**

 **So anyway, that's all for now, so I hope you liked this, and as always, please leave me feedback!**


	33. To Pace, To Walk

**Replies to Guest Reviews:**

 **KuroNeko: Many thanks for the fanart! The link you put in the review didn't actually fully appear, so I had to trial-and-error many Google searchers with the bit left, but I managed to find it and SQUEEE it was so cute! Anyway, I did manage to find it, and I reposted to Tumblr, with the appropriate credits (though I didn't manage to get the link in there). But anyway, thanks for the review, as always! Hope you enjoy this one too!**

 **But, anyway OH MY GOSH THE WAKABA DAY CARE ARC IN THE ANIME! I am so ecstatic about that! Not to mention, Kayano is ALIVE! Many reasons to be happy in relation to AssClass. And then there's Boku Dake ga Inai Machi just casually killing me on the inside in different ways depending on whether it is the anime or the manga (not to mention certain aspects are making me so goddamn hopping mad). But I love them both, they're my two fave shows of the season and all that. Love them. But I'm digressing- so without further ado here is the chapter, and I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

"Are Kitakawa-san and Ueno-kun really opting out of the escalator system?"

As soon as Hasegawa had taken the seat Principal Okikura had offered him, he asked the question. Sure, this little session was meant to be about him telling Okikura what he knew of 3E's pet project, but seeing those two with the forms that should have been obsolete by now- because no sane person in the main campus would relinquish such a privilege- was enough of a surprise that he wanted to know.

"Why, yes they did. It's a shame, but they technically cannot be refused."

 _Hmmm…I suppose maybe Kitakawa-san isn't the miracle she comes across as after all. Then again, if she really is dating that boy who got sent to 3E for_ modelling _, of all the jobs he could have had, then I suppose her standards are slipping anyway. Not to mention the whole issue of Tadaomi Kitakawa…but Ueno-kun. That I do not understand. He's the Class 3B Male Class Representative, he has always been a B-Class Representative, and he took it seriously. I wonder what changed._

"This is true. Kunugigaoka isn't a prison, so I suppose you don't want lawyers descending upon the school."

Okikura laughed heartily at this, and Hasegawa smiled indulgently while waiting for it to pass.

"Well then!" Okikura calmed down rapidly and fixed Hasegawa with a serious stare. "Tell me everything you know about this…what did you call it?"

"They have dubbed it 'Ending the End Class', Principal Okikura."

"How amusing, they're trying to turn their curse into an advantage." Hasegawa privately winced, for Okikura had sounded like Otsuka with that particular turn of phrase. He was glad he had not brought her or even the other virtuosos along.

"So then, Hasegawa-kun, tell me about Ending the End Class. Everything you know."

A beat. And then:

" _Everything_ , Principal Okikura?" Hasegawa leaned forward to meet Okikura's eye. _I need to tread carefully. I will not have this status stripped from me._

"Yes, I would like to hear everything."

"Very well then." Hasegawa took his time in thinking of the words, and then did indeed tell Okikura everything, leaving out nothing, but making it as dispassionate as possible. Okikura nodded and made noises in all the right places, but did not say anything until Hasegawa had finished.

"Well then…"

"What are you going to do about it, Principal Okikura, if it is not too impertinent to ask?" It was only because of Otonashi's insistence that if they were going to take countermeasures then they should at least get staff consent that he was here in the first place, after all.

"I…will survey the situation. Admittedly, these 3E students are resilient, like cockroaches are, but it will not be too difficult to quash them if they get too hardy. At the moment, they're just making noise in a vacuum, don't you think?"

Hasegawa made a non-committal noise. Okikura nodded to himself proudly before continuing.

"However, I think what you've been doing so far has been beneficial. It will be good to weaken their defences and to monitor what they are up to as far as is possible. With the rule that I've placed, I doubt they'll be courageous enough to step out of bounds anyway. So, Hasegawa-kun, I will instruct you, Otsuka-san and whomever else you deem suitable to continue what you have been doing, within those bounds. Do not take more extreme steps or measures unless the situation changes and I send my say so. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Principal Okikura." _We may as well have not told him. But I can bide my time, and I'm sure there is plenty we can do that isn't outside our bounds._

"I knew you'd be dependable and strong, Hasegawa-kun. You're as good a president as your brother was here. "

"Thank you very much, sir." Hasegawa stood up and bowed. "I don't wish to be a bad example to the other students so I think I will return to class."

"Go, go, Hasegawa-kun, don't be late now. And be sure to keep me in the loop."

"Yes, of course, Principal."

 **…**

Asami gripped her mobile phone tightly in one hand, and looked at the piece of paper on her lap apprehensively, gathering up the courage to type the phone number into the phone and make the call. _Ugh, why am I being such a wimp? Just get on with it!_ She had deliberately picked the bathroom that nobody used to do this, but now the courage had left her.

She'd been distractible for the last couple of days, finding it hard to concentrate and constantly plagued by the flashbacks of common sense crumbling to pieces. First Hana had been spewing nonsense about not wanting to return to the main campus for some reason or other.

" _But I don't want to return to the main campus." Hana pleaded._

Admittedly, Hana hadn't fought her, and had in the end actually managed to do some work, which Asami was proud of. But she hadn't reasoned with Hana at all, so she knew that her scatter-brained sister was still holding onto that belief. And then Hiro had thrown that curveball about opting out, not to mention that anger…she'd never seen Hiro like that before, ever.

" _I'm an_ asset _, Asami." Hiro snapped out suddenly, her voice becoming thicker and more resonant. Asami jumped, and then found she just couldn't look away as Hiro seethed._

 _I'm an asset, to the image of this school, something to hold up just so that they can say 'hey, look, not only are we smart, on top of the league tables and success story producers, we are tolerant and inclusive of difference too- see , that girl is a deaf orphan, but she's in the highest class.' I'm meant to be some sort of poster girl for the school, when it's all bullshit. Just bullshi-"_

None of it made any sort of sense whatsoever. She had made some sort of reconciliation with Hiro- in fact, the girl had gone out of her way to apologise for snapping- but she was clear that she still thought that Asami was wrong about things, and so they were still rather tentative. _Though you are still my friend._ And as for Hana, things were the same there and so she didn't see what could be done. Then there was the issue with the Virtuosos. She was sure they knew something big and important, something that could help her get Hana back to normal, back to where safety and success were, but they all seemed to close her out. Sure, she wasn't virtuoso level, but she was still 3A's Female Class Representative, and she had earned her right to be a member of 3A in the first place, so they had no right to do that. Yet it happened, and there was no reason forthcoming, no answer. The only thing she could think of was Tadaomi Kitakawa. Tada, as he kept telling people to call him. Tada was the 3E male representative, and it had been his idea to break tradition and give his class three representatives. He had given his word that Hana wouldn't get into trouble during Kyoto, and then it had turned out that they'd ended up tasked with extra cleaning duty as a punishment. In relation to that, though admittedly she hadn't been trying too hard to memorise Tada's voice, but it could easily have been him cleaning with Hana that time. And of course, he was Hiro's beloved twin brother.

Perhaps the last one was something she could relate to, in a sense, for she herself was a twin (and she still loved her siblings, despite it all). But in the end, it all circled around to him. _Some of this is his responsibility. He needs to take it._ So she needed to make sure he knew that- the easiest way would have been to go to the class, but there was no way she would do that. Eventually, after getting ready to crawl out of her skin from the thinking, she had taken advantage of Hana being called down to bring the washed clothes from the washing line the night before, and had gone into her room to find her phone to get Tada's number from it.

She could have hit a wall there, but Hana (typically of her) had not put a lock pattern or pin code on her phone, so Asami had been able to get in. Admittedly, part of her was curious to see what traces of her sister's current friendships were in this phone, but what she had been doing was bad enough, so she just went straight to contacts and whizzed through until she had spotted the name 'Tadaomi Kitakawa'. Then, she had quickly scribbled down the number on the paper she had brought along with her, before rapidly backing out of the room and going back to hers, stopping only for a brief interlude to remind Kei to leave his dinner tray out once finished with it.

And now, here she was, with the same piece of paper, gearing herself up to give Tada a piece of her mind. _Oh boy, does he need it. You don't just stir up problems for people and get off scot free. This isn't how the world works!_

With that, she punched the number into the phone, deliberately, one digit at a time. Once she had, she checked it against the paper, before scrunching it up and holding it tightly in her fist. Then, she pressed 'Dial', and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello? " Tada answered pretty quickly. His voice came across as a little fuzzy, but Asami could tolerate that, as she couldn't imagine the 3E building had the best reception. And he was clear enough anyway, even with the added distraction of what couldn't be anything else but the sounds of his classmates. _Is Hana near him now?_

"That is Tadaomi Kitakawa-kun, isn't it?" she said, trying to be as cool as possible.

"Hey, Tada, who is that?" a distinctly female voice asked on the other end, surprisingly resonant. Asami frowned, trying to place it.

"I don't know, Hanae-Chan." Tada told the person, his voice becoming less distinct, before getting clearer again as he evidently moved back to his phone. _Hanae Tsukuda-san, she's one of the other 3E Representatives. I wonder how influential she is._ "Erm, who is this?"

"It's Asami."

There was a moment where the only noises were her own breathing, and the indistinct chatter of 3E-ers on the other end of the line.

"A-Asami-Chan?" Tada spluttered, evidently flustered. "Uh….right, hello. Is there something you wanted to ask me?"

 _Aren't you bloody going to ask why I have your number or how you got it?_ Asami, feeling belligerent, prepared to fire away when another voice stopped her

"Tada-kun, you're talking to Asami?"

"Y-yeah I am, Hana-Chan. Say, Asami-Chan, do you want to talk to your sister, instead? You can stay on this call if you'd like, save you the trouble of having to redial and al-"

"No, it is you I want to talk to, Kitakawa-kun."

"Sure, sure, that's fine, but call me Tada, please. " Tada sounded uncertain, but he seemed to have decided to just roll with things, which just made her fume even more. "Wha-"

"Oh, cut out the pleasantries and just what the _hell_ you think you're playing at down there?!"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Don't fricking act coy!" Asami all but growled, the mobile phone threatening to splinter in her hand. "You must have _some_ awareness of what you're doing- throwing your life away and forcing the rest to do the same!"

"U-uh, Asami-Chan, I don't think I understand. What's wrong?" The concern was radiating from his tone, bright against the chatter she could hear. Which actually seemed to be diminishing- _as if they're all trying to listen in or something. Good. They should all get a reality check._

"Tch, of course you 'don't understand'" Asami dismissed derisively. "All you're able to do is to just complain about your situation and just try and make everyone else as miserable as you all are. Typical 3E attendees, just…whining and whinging and stagnating. Are you not bloody ashamed of yourself?! You're not even _trying_ to better yourselves! And yet you're expecting the world to just hand you everything without any effort! "

"Oi, check yourself a moment, won't you?! Do you even know any of us properly?" Asami reared back, almost hitting her head on the cistern. The voice was that of Tsukuda's, one that was almost exotic in tone, but currently filled with heat to match that which was coursing through Asami's own body.

"W-wait, Hanae-Chan, give the phone back!" Asami could hear Tada protesting.

"Hanae-san!" another female voice, this one calmer, also ordered.

"O-ho, Lil' Aoshima-Chan, seems like your sister's blasting Tada-Chan for something." _Wait…that's the same…oh, so maybe Tada-kun wasn't the one who told Hana that…._ the realisation was not one that mellowed out her feelings towards him.

"Tsukuda-san, I don't particularly want to talk to y-"

"Duh, we know that! Of course you bloody don't, given how we're all 3E no-hopers. That's how you deal with the world, isn't it. You don't give a damn about anything or anyone who doesn't fit the stupid standards here. As far as you're concerned if someone is human and they lapse, then that's it, they just….they may as well just die, or something. We're aware of that, and we're living with it now, so don't you dare come along and presume to know what we're like if you're not going to bother actually trying to think of us as people!"

" _If my hearing impairment hadn't been discovered while I was still a baby, if I didn't have such good family and friends to help me out and if I hadn't been so good with school work and dance, then I'd be one of those derided people too, you know. I might even have been in 3E, just like Tada and Hana. Then you wouldn't even have been my friend, would you? You would have just dismissed my strugg-"_

"I-I…erm….that's not, that's going too far. I…" just like that time, Asami found that despite her better instincts, her eyes suddenly became damp, and her throat heavy and tight. She struggled to keep the emotion in and find the words to tell them that no matter what, they were still wrong, to find the thing that would make Hana happy with the idea of coming back.

"Asami-Chan, are you still there? I'm sorry about that." Tada came back on the line and Asami jumped yet again. Her other hand flew open and the paper dropped to the ground silently. She sniffed heavily, and prepared to make up some yarn about a cold if he asked.

"Your brother was in this situation a while back, wasn't he? Three years ago- Kei-sempai, right?"

 _Eh? Did….did Hana tell them about Kei? Surely she wouldn't?_

"Our family is not your business," she informed him stoutly.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know much about him, specifically though. But I'm aware enough, of 3E and what it means."

"So why are you so insistent on staying there? You're just narrowing your horizons and for…for what? The ultimate fuck-you?!"

"Nuh-uh. We're trying to change things. Change 3E. Which probably is an ultimate fuck-you to the Kunugigaoka system, I guess."

"You're talking nonsense. Stop trying to justify your irresponsibility and just give it up. If you want to be in the pits then fine, but don't drag Hana down!" _This is pointless. Just hang up now and leave them with something to think about, at least. You've done too much now, there's nothing else that's going to work._ But even as she told herself this, Asami found herself holding onto the phone, wondering what Tada would cook up next.

"Ah. Ohhh. You don't know, do you?" Tada asked, slowly, as if he'd had a revelation. "Hana-Chan, she doesn't know, does she?"

Whatever Hana responded, Asami couldn't hear it. Even if she had, she probably would not have perceived it for all of a sudden, her head filled with other incidents, other 'oh, you don't know, do you?' moments.

"WHAT DON'T I KNOW? If it's such a big damn deal then JUST TELL ME!" Her voice cracked at the end of that, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. _Keep it in, keep it in._

"The question is- do you really want to know? Are you even prepared to listen to us?" A new female voice- _no, wait, I heard this one earlier_ \- interjected.

"Eriko-Chan, I think you're rubbing Protector of the Small's earlier salt in." Tada patiently sighed. Apparently, he was still holding the phone. Eriko must have just leaned in to make her pronouncement.

"Is this really the place for idioms?" a definitely new male voice inquired. Tada just sighed exasperatedly.

"This isn't the place to discuss them!" he protested. It would have been funny if Asami had been able to stop her crying. She pressed her hand harder into her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as possible, but her small frame just would not stop shaking, and her eyes just kept leaking anyway. She was becoming weak, and she hated it.

"Asami-Chan, are you all right? Are you okay there, by yourself, wherever it is you are?" Tada asked urgently. Asami didn't give him the dignity of a response to that. She could not bend that much. A sob escaped from her mouth.

"Okay, I'll give a brief summary, but first, could you just give me an answer to this: haven't you ever wished that 3E didn't exist, at all, so that Kei-sempai wouldn't have had to go through whatever he had gone through, for example?"

 _Oh haven't I ever? It's such a cursed creation._ Asami's instinctive nod had her silently cursing until she remembered that nods could not be heard down a phone. Another sob let itself out despite her efforts to keep it in, but again, she refused to answer, and just stared at the ground, wondering what else she'd get hurled at her.

"Okay then….okay…anyway, what we've been doing here is building up a project that would stop 3E from ever existing again. We're 'Ending the End Class', so this class, this class that Hana-Chan is part of, it'll be the last one. Nobody will suffer as a result of this class, ever again. That's what we're working towards, you see. So you see, Asami-Chan, we _are_ trying to change _something_. "

Asami thought of the scores of origami birds that now littered Hana's room. She had not been able to think of those as anything but a sign of the same dysfunction that had led to Kei's current state, but now… _I've been looking at things all wrong! I have, haven't I?_

"Oh god! Oh god….." Asami gave up, and let go. She let her body shake and her eyes leak.

"You can hang up now, Asami-Chan. This…probably isn't the best time to properly explain. Dry your eyes and go find a friend to be with, okay? We'll reach out to you at some point-no, when you're more up to it, you call me again, okay?"

Tada's voice was impossibly kind, given all the vitriol she'd just hurled, and that for some reason stung more. _I don't know anything at all. I need to fix that somehow._ Not wanting to mess up even more, Asami simply hung up, and put her phone in her lap. She stared at it dully for a moment or two, and then she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

 **…**

As Tada sketched out the first proper picture of his new character, Ayu, he munched his way through the sandwich he'd brought with him for lunch. Next to him on the steps to the classroom, Akira sipped at a carton of milk as she wrote in the notebook she was always writing in. What story she was weaving, she didn't reveal and he didn't ask, but it was okay.

Occasionally, he looked up and around him. Not everyone was outside today, as it wasn't that warm, but some of them were. Like Tsukuda and Hana, sitting in the middle of the grass, the smaller girl making origami birds in quick succession and giggling as Tsukuda gestured expansively, talked and handed her pieces of paper. _I wonder if everything is okay between Asami-Chan and Hana-Chan?_ After that unexpected phone call yesterday (though thinking of it as a 'phone call' was an understatement), Tada had gotten Asami's school email from Hana, and had then fired off a long, long message explaining everything as well as he could. He hadn't received a reply, and Hana had not told him anything.

"Do you think that everything will be okay with Asami-Chan?" Tada asked aloud, not really expecting Akira to answer.

"I'd say yes, because I don't think Aoshima-san's sister was motivated by malice." Akira stated flatly without looking up. "But I think you'll need to wait for them to sort things out between themselves before you do anything else."

"Yeah, I guessed as much….oh well."

Tada returned to his drawing and Akira returned to her writing and they sat in comfortable silence for a while longer, until Tada put his pencil down next to him and held out the sketchbook in front of him to better regard his drawing. Then, he got his pencil back again before adding a few more lines, and then regarded the picture again- Ayu and The Distant Ocean, standing together at the beach, looking at the scenery in front of them, the girl more solidly planted on the sand while the man let his feet get soaked by water. But all the same, they were together.

"Ah, hey, Akira-Chan, what do you think?" he turned to his friend and beamed. Akira looked up at him and blinked.

"Oh, you've finished a drawing." She reached over to take the sketchbook, and she put her notebook aside so she could get a better look at the picture. She studied it, and Tada waited for her verdict. He expected she'd say something, or ask a question regarding the image, but instead she frowned, stared more closely at the picture, looked up and regarded something slightly far off, before looking down at the picture again and frowning deeply.

"Why?" she asked almost quietly. Two high spots of red appeared on her cheeks as she looked back up again. Suddenly, she thrust the sketchbook back at Tada, and he grabbed it quickly, startled.

"Why what, Akira-Chan?"

"Why have you drawn Tsukuda-san?"

"Eh?" Tada glanced down at the drawing. "Oh, you mean my character Ayu? That's not Hanae-Chan, she's an original character, just like The Distant Ocean…." He trailed off, noticing how Akira looked so solidly ahead, as if in denial of something, yet furious with it all the same. So he looked over at where Tsukuda and Hana still were, laughing and folding birds. _What a beautiful-oh. Oh, right._ Tada blinked, realisation rushing in. Returning his gaze to the drawing, all of a sudden he saw it, and he knew. It made a perfect sort of sense, though he hadn't seen it now. After all, it had been Tsukuda who had suggested Ayu's name to him…

 _Hanae…._

"Erm….." he closed the sketchbook suddenly, picked up his pencil and stood up. Looking down at his tiny friend, he felt that weirdly, he should apologise.

"I'm sorry, Akira-Chan."

"No need." Was the brusque reply. Tada shrugged, helplessly.

"Well…I guess I'm going to put these back inside my bag now." Akira didn't respond, instead choosing to bury herself back in the writing, still red and ruffled. He sighed, and after looking over at Tsukuda again, he headed back inside.

 _So, this is how it was._

* * *

 **I somehow don't think that this final scene translated well into actually being written. If it doesn't make sense to you, I can try and explain it to you the best that I can, but since it relies a lot on things implied/unsaid, not to mention metaphors, it might be difficult. *Sigh* Sorry about that. But I needed this scene, as I think you may at least be able to discern, it signifies a turning point in the nature of the relationship Tada and Tsukuda have.**

 **But anyway, as always, feedback, please!**


	34. We Wanted To Surprise You!

**SURPRISE!Yeah, this is an early update, and it is early because I have a week off from uni and managed to get a lot of writing done, and I'm even going to be able to submit a piece of coursework early. Also, did you notice anything different in the summary? If you did, well then, it will be explained at the bottom. If you didn't notice it...then, well, that will also all be explained at the bottom. But first (skipping the review reply bit if not applicable to you), here is a new chapter for you to enjoy (Speaking of which, if you are new to the story I kind of hope you at least read all the chapters rather than just skipping to this one because of the summary, haha.) !**

 **Replies to Guest Reviews:**

 **KuroNeko: Yes, they should all be drawn! I myself intend on doing that soon, but if you want to draw more I'd love it! Anyway, I am very glad that you liked the Asami bit- she now does understand Hana somewhat, but the road to their proper reconciliation will take a while. That being said, she will support Hana in the sense of them being sisters. Also, you are correct about Akira being a little jealous...and definitely, Team Hanae for the win!^^ Hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

Thankfully, the rest of the time leading up to the end-of-terms was fairly uneventful, and so the class could devote most of their time to studying and therefore beating the exams. Eriko put her all into it, taking advantage of the tables Tada had booked, and organising little study groups of her own- she spent one evening trying to drill Ruko in some of the finer points of Literature, but nothing came of it. But she felt that she'd got something out of that process, even if it was an intangible something, so it was not that bad.

She also tried to keep everyone on track, making sure they actually studied in the first place, but also ensuring that they did not have too much of a burden on their shoulders with the other parts of life, such as the cleaning duty at both ends, as well as the Ending the End Class campaign. Ichijou, within her limitations, was an excellent teacher in this period of time as she both gave them practical pointers and comforting reassurance, and she allowed quite a few high tension lessons to be supplemented Haru's cups of tea, as well as the occasional sweet or biscuit from Tada. Eriko could begin to see a tradition come out of these little things, and she was glad of it. She never would have imagined that one day school would be more welcoming than home, but there it was.

On the day of the exams themselves, they all met up together, early, at the base of the path to the 3E campus, before heading up together. Plenty of jeers and sneers followed them, as par the course, but nobody dared do anything when they were a big cluster, all together. _Would have been too much effort,_ Ruko had snarked, and Eriko agreed but it was a small blessing, and she was sure they all felt better for it as they started the exams.

Which, surprisingly enough, were not so bad at all. Sure, they were made to be incredibly advanced for their level, with lots of trick questions and other such things, but it hadn't been much different from the mid-terms they'd had. The only real surprise was the English paper- they hadn't been informed that some of the questions on the paper would be written in actual English. No doubt, the main campus students would have been told. It was one of the many small injustices of life she was having to get used to. It rankled, horribly, but somehow, remembering tips and facts Megu had given her, she'd got through the paper. And afterwards, she reminded herself that Kitabayashi would have had a field day with those particular questions, as would have the likes of Akira, Kuroba and Hana.

The time between finishing the exams and the day the results were received seemed to lag on, but before she knew it, Ichijou was handing them pieces of paper and beaming ridiculously.

"Well, children, you've all come in leaps and bounds I must say. So many improvements since the mid-terms, it just goes to show that hard work pays off. "Yes _, yes it does,_ Eriko reflected, looking at the scores on her page.

"Ah, it would have been nice if you'd had a good reward for this, such as that Okinawa trip this school used to have. Apparently that was a luxury resort, from what I heard talking to the other teachers." Ichijou went on.

"I think it got stopped a good few years back." Kuroba said. "It was Principal Asano's thing, as far as I understand. Principal Okikura discontinued it."

"Yeah, it was definitely around a while ago. My mother's class went on the trip their time around." Tada told them.

"Woah, seriously?" Ayako asked. "What was it like? Did she ever tell you? Was it really a luxury resort?!"

Tada laughed nervously and held out his hands.

"Well, it was because their class had had most of the top scorers for the subjects across the year. And I think they'd managed to get themselves embroiled in a bet relating to said scores…." Tada scrunched up his face, trying to recollect second-hand stories.

"And that brings me very nicely onto what I wanted to tell you." Ichijou held up a brown envelope. "I have the rankings right here, for both best in this class and best across the year, per subject. Should I read them out for you?"

 _Do you even need to ask?!_ "Yes please, sensei!" the class chorused.

"Ah, don't start yet. We'd like to sit in on the show, if it isn't too much trouble."

The unfamiliar voice coming from just outside the door caused everyone to fall silent. All heads turned towards the open door, where four sets of feet could be heard clattering towards it. There were also young voices mixed in with them, the words hard to discern. But Eriko thought she'd recognised the voice that had called out to them.

 _Knew it!_ Eriko thought when a few seconds later Kou sauntered in, wearing his school uniform, followed by three younger children. One was a middle school boy, judging from the classically middle-school-y uniform he wore. The other two were elementary school aged, the girl, who was holding Kou's hand, clearly being the older one of the two. Just like Kou, they were all golden eyed and purple haired, though their facial features were not exactly the same. The girl's hair was wavy and had a small section gathered in a side ponytail secured by a cloud shaped hair bobble. The youngest boy had big black glasses on. But even so, they were all quite clearly initial jubilant thrill of being correct evaporated instantly, and Eriko face-palmed. _Oh, come on, seriously?_

"Good to see you too, Eri-Chan!" Kou cheerily announced. "And all you guys, too."

"Kou-kun! Kaito-kun, Miori-Chan, Kazuo-kun!" Tada stood up and gawped at them. "What on earth?"

"Ehehe, Tadacchi." Kou grinned. "We did say we were staying with you this summer, no?"

"But…"

"Kou-Nii-Chan collected us all from school 'rly." The smallest boy announced, his gold eyes widening behind his black glasses. "He said we were going to surprise you and Hiro-nee-san. But I don't see Hiro-nee-san so how can we do that?"

He hesitantly walked towards Tada's desk and beseeched him. Tada rubbed his face confusedly, then ruffled the boy's hair before sitting down again. Eriko noticed the middle school boy raise his eyes to the heavens momentarily, clearly embarrassed. The little girl- presumably Miori-, on the other hand, wasn't that bothered, though she held firmly onto Kou's hand as she watched them all. Fuyumi seemed to catch her attention, and Miori kept gazing over there until she caught Fuyumi's attention. The older girl smiled and beckoned her, but the child looked to Kou for reassurance. When he nodded it, Miori let go of his hand and walked over there quickly, and soon the two started a tentative conversation in low tones.

"Hiro's in a different class, Kazuo-kun. But she'll come meet us after school, and she'll _definitely_ be surprised."

"Good." Kazuo determinedly nodded. Tsukuda laughed warmly at this, startling the boy a little. But she soon seemed to become approachable in his eyes, because it didn't take long before Kazuo beamed and started giggling. Tsukuda tickled him a bit, which made him laugh more until the next person spoke and silenced him.

"Could you not have waited at the bottom of the path, if you wanted to surprise us?" Kuroba inquired frostily. "You didn't need to bring the little brats with you, at least."

"Ah, jovial as ever, I see, Kurosuke. Might I just request you don't speak of Miori and my brothers that way?" Kou smiled a wide, white smile at them, but his words were steel. His question was not actually a question. Kuroba just tipped his head up a moment in acknowledgement, but did not engage Kou further. _Probably wise_ , Eriko mused. The middle school boy shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot, while Kazuo and Miori blinked, wary of the proceedings.

"Admittedly though, Kuroba-kun did have a point." Finally, Ichijou spoke up, having just watched the arrival of the Akabane siblings with the same slack-jawed astonishment as the rest of the class. "Entering without announcement isn't really the done thing."

"I apologise on behalf of my older brother!" The middle school boy- Kaito, _Eriko reminded herself_ \- stepped up and bowed deeply, his cheeks going a little red. "As well as causing disruption, naturally. I'm sorry!"

Kaito straightened and tossed a dirty look at his brother. "Tada-san knows this well, but Nii-Chan can be a bit of an idiot sometimes. I apologise to all of you, too, for having to put up with him. I heard he was quite annoying during your trip to Kyoto. "

Kou stuck his tongue out behind Kaito's back at this, and although Kaito didn't turn around he seemed to know it instantly, for his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"It's quite alright, Kaito-kun. No need to worry yourself. "Haru told him. "It _is_ Kaito-kun, isn't it?"

Kaito went red again, but this time he smiled a little as he nodded. The embarrassment on his face remained a little as Haru introduced herself to him, but he was at least more comfortable. Ruko snickered and leaned over to whisper something to Ayako, tapping her camera empathetically.

Eriko wondered if maybe she should step in and, well, move things along, when she noticed Tada and Tsukuda's heads turn to each other, as though they were conferring on something. She'd seen them to that a lot, carrying out entire conversations or so it seemed, so Eriko deferred to them. Besides, she figured it would be easier that way, as Kou was meant to be Tada's friend. And sure enough, Tada cleared his throat and started to speak.

"Say, Ichijou-sensei, if Kou-kun doesn't-"

"The unexpected pleasures are usually the better ones, and it is good to surround yourself with pleasures when living a cruel existence." Azama commented a little randomly, interrupting Tada.

"Quite right, Zammy, quite right." Kou heartily proclaimed, filling the pin-drop quiet that had immediately followed that statement. Of course, naturally, after that, there was another collective sweatdrop moment, because, well, _Zammy? Seriously? Does this boy have no bounds?_ Azama, for his part, seemed unbothered by the new moniker.

"Well, Tada-kun, I presume you were asking if Akabane-kun and his siblings could stay here if they were quiet?" Ichijou spoke up again. "I'm willing to allow that, certainly. It is the last day of school after all. So, would you be able to do that?"

"Oh, most certainly!" Kaito was quick to reply. Kou reached over and ruffled his brother's hair before smiling charmingly at Ichijou.

"Yeah, we can do that, right, Miori, Kazu-tan?" he said. "We can just casually float at the back."

"Yeah, okay." Miori nodded, her arms resting against Fuyumi's desk. "But, Kou-nii, can I stay with Fuyumi-san, please?" The blond smiled as if to say it was quite fine with her.

"I wanta stay with Tada-nii-san and the funny Nee-san." Kazuo proclaimed. Tada hoisted the little boy on his lap by way of answer. Kou sighed and pretended to acquiesce.

"Well, if you guys behave, then it's fine. So I guess it's just me and Chibi Kai at the back." Kou began to wander down, and after an annoyed huff, Kaito did the same, and they both leaned against the wall at the back and waited, calmly. Once they were all settled, Ichijou picked the brown envelope up once again.

"Right then, "she cheerfully bumbled, flicking through the papers. "The English paper was the most…controversial one, shall we say, so we'll start with those two results."

"The best in the class was…Kachi Kitabayashi-kun!" Ichijou's attempt at dramatic flair fell a bit flat, but they took it in the spirit it was intended and thus nobody commented.

"Huh, what?" Kitabayashi looked up from what he was doing, confused by all the sudden applause and attention.

"You did really well, Kitabayashi-san, that's what happened." Fuyumi answered mildly.

"Katsu, you scored the highest in our class for English!" Koujiro called over, waving cheerfully but needlessly at the smaller boy. "Isn't that great?!"

"That sort of thing doesn't happen to me. Does it?!" Kitabayashi spluttered in English, clearly confused, but also, in Eriko's eyes, neatly highlighting to them all why he would have got the top score. His teal eyes took them all in sceptically, and then alighted on the four class guests.

"Who are they and when did they get here?" He asked in Japanese this time, looking as if he'd explode (as per the nickname Koujiro and some others had dubbed him with).

"We can explain that later." Eriko intervened, hoping to prevent said explosion. Kitabayashi just shook his head in amazement and went back to whatever it was he was doing, clearly much happier in that domain. _I wonder if he's writing those poems I've heard about. Perhaps one day he can share them with the class, I think that would be nice._

"You ended up scoring 30th in the year, rather than top, Kitabayashi-kun, but its allright, you did well enough. So, moving onto maths….the top in the class was…well, there was a tie, actually. Between Seijuro Kuroba-kun and Hana Aoshima-san. And…you scored second overall, which is brilliant!"

"Wa-hey, Sei-Chan and Li'l Aoshima-Chan, how about that, eh?" Naturally, Izzy was the first to respond to this announcement. "We'll have to do something to celebrate, huh?"

"It isn't that big a deal." Kuroba sniffed, despite his pride being quite evident on his imposing face. Izzy just grinned at him wolfishly, while Hana beamed uncertainly, looking at all of them. They were all ecstatic and for good reason too. _Second place. In the entire year. Now if that isn't a blow to preconceptions then what is?_

"Perhaps we could go for drinks sometime in the summer hols?" Izzy suggested flippantly.

"YOU'RE ALL UNDERAGE!" Tsuwabuki protested.

"So?" Izzy asked. "Who cares?"

"A lot of people would…." Hirigi said, bemused.

Eriko leaned back and smiled softly to herself at the proceedings. She caught the eye of Kaori, who winked at her. Ichijou waited for the moment to pass, and then cleared her throat delicately to get everybody's attention again.

"Okay, well, it probably would made sense to announce the Literature score before the Maths one," _Why?_ Eriko shook her head slightly, baffled, and some of the others whispered too. "But never mind. The top scorer for Literature was….Saito Yukiyama-kun! And you are 3rd overall, tying with a lot of main-campusers, as it happens. "

"Me?" Yukiyama had just been brooding in his corner of the room, present but not present, but now he was fully alert and almost as confused as Kitabayashi had been. But when he scanned the room he seemed to come to the conclusion that indeed, it was true, for he just shrugged and even gave a half-smile.

"Well done, Yukiyama-kun!" Tada called out. Yukiyama nodded but didn't make much more of a fuss than that, allowing Ichijou to move onto science. Eriko briefly wondered which main campus students had tied with Yukiyama, and if they knew any of them, but she shook it away. These were _their_ successes.

"The top in the class for science is Hanae Tsukuda-san! " Ichijou proclaimed. Almost immediately, Tsukuda burst out laughing. Everyone stared at her.

"How incredibly fitting, huh?" she said, shaking her head in amazement. Clearly, there was something ironic about her getting this position, but whatever it was, she failed to elaborate.

"Well done, Protector of the Small." Tada warmly praised. "You did great."

"Yes, you did." Eriko agreed. Kazuo fidgeted on Tada's lap before leaning towards her and saying 'well done' in a too-loud whisper. Tsukuda ruffled his hair, and then blushed slightly before turning back to Tada. Again, they swapped silent words before resettling to listen to Ichijou again.

"Unfortunately, you also ended up 30th in the year, but as I said with Kitabayashi-kun, what you've done is achievement enough, so don't be downhearted, okay, Tsukuda-san?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Tsukuda said airily, leaning back nonchalantly. From the back of the room, Kou chuckled at this. Ichijou beamed at her, and then announced the social studies results.

"Fuyumi Yukimura-san got the highest score in the class, and scored 35th in the year. "

"And, though they are more informal assessments, the top scorers in Home Economics in this class, both ranked 17th in the year overall are…Haruka Ichinose-san and Kazuma Hirigi-kun! Well done, you two."

"Pish, those aren't even taken seriously by the school." Kazuma said, getting redder with every word as he tried to shrug it off amidst the whoops and cheers from various class members. "That isn't such a big deal."

"It does go on your report card, and towards your entire end-of-term ranking in the school." Kinomoto reminded them. "And every little helps, you know."

Kou sniggered at this. When everyone rounded on him silently he just grinned and held a hand out as if to ward them off.

"Relax, I was sniggering at the Tesco tagline, not the actual sentiment. You guys kicked academic ass as far as I'm concerned. "

 _Tesco?_

"Academic ass….oddly enough, I like that." Koujiro remarked.

"I think I do, too…" Fuyumi mused, looking off into the distance. Miori bored holes into her. "I didn't expect that at all, really. "

"Why not?" Miori asked. "Is it a subject you don't like?" Then she remembered that she was meant to be quiet and she clapped her hands over her mouth, stricken. Fuyumi shook her head and smiled at the girl.

"No, actually. I rather like that sort of thing. I just…ah, I don't know." She shook her head. "I don't know."

"But we still improved hugely since the mid-terms, which I'm actually really happy about. So well done to all of you!" Tada said. Kazuo hopped off his lap and went down to the back, where Kou and Kaito were.

"Yeah, this'll show the main campus!" Tsukuda put in. Eriko chortled slightly and nodded.

"Yes, I think it will. But that doesn't mean we should stop trying. There is still more left to do."

"Argh, do you need to word it like that?" Ruko crabbed as she shoved some tiny sugary sweets into her mouth. "It's the last day of school, summer is ahead and all that!"

"Eriko-san is right though, in a sense." Ichijou took control again. "Even with the stunning achievements, there are still some areas that need work. So, as with the mid-terms, I've put pointers on what to do wrong, but I've also pulled together some worksheets relating to those weak topics for you to do over the summer, which I will hand out to you in a moment. And that will be your summer homework. I won't order anything additional to that apart from a brief account of something you did over the summer. Anything that you like. And you can decide whether to write it in Japanese or English, depending on which one you wish to nurture or practise more. I'd imagine that's reasonable enough. "

"Bleurgh." Ruko said, but in a way that meant she clearly didn't mean it. Eriko rolled her eyes anyway. Ichijou smiled placidly and ignored it, and set about handing out the worksheets. Once she had finished, she looked at the time.

"Well then, "she proclaimed. "It looks as if the term has officially ended. Now, make sure you have a summer that is both safe and enjoyable and I will see you next term. I'm just off to the staffroom to tie up a few things. Ah, and Akabane-kun, you're a welcome visitor, but the next time you come along, do give advance notice, even if it is via Tada-kun."

"Of course, Ichijou-sensei." Kou easily agreed. Eriko found his ease sceptical, but shook the thought out of her head. _What a pain._

Ichijou left, and the class burst into a space of action and chatter as everyone pulled their things together and bustled out of the classroom. Most of them immediately started comparing test scores, or just further congratulating the class's various top-scorers.

Outside, some of the others started to head down the hill while Tada went over to Fuyumi, Jori and Koujiro. As Kaori had now caught up to Eriko, she dragged her over there as well. The Akabane siblings followed.

"Righty-aighty!" Koujiro proclaimed. "Let's get you off there then."

Fuyumi smiled serenely and as usual, waited for Jori to kneel in front of her wheelchair before clinging to her back as usual.

"Do you have to do that every day, when coming to school?" Kaito asked, appalled as he watched the usual proceedings.

"This place isn't particularly wheelchair accessible, as you may have noticed." Jori informed him caustically. Kaito stiffened, and looked down at the ground momentarily.

"That's awful." He said. "How can they do that- rhetorical question, Nii-Chan, before you say anything."

"Ah, busted by Chibi Kai. Never mind." Kou said affably. Koujiro sniggered.

"May I help?" Miori asked. They goggle-eyed at the 10-year-old girl, who just looked back at them patiently. Eventually, Fuyumi sighed.

"Of course you can. Perhaps you could carry my bag?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"A-ah, I could help with the wheelchair carrying, uh, urm…"

"Koujiro Tobe. Call me Koujiro, it's fine. And yeah, sure by all means. We've put Tada-kun and Kaori-Chan out of a job though."

"Ah, that's not such a large thing." Fuyumi reasoned. They started walking and soon caught up with the others and they walked and chatted. Although Eriko was just happy talking to Kaori, she could not help but eavesdrop on parts of Tada and Kou's conversation. She was no Ayako, and she didn't want to particularity know everything about them and their friendship, but hearing details of a life _was_ interesting, she had to admit to that much.

"Do Karma-san and Manami-san know you decided to come down so early?"

"Nah, they're already on their flights, so they don't have a clue. It's okay though, they won't mind."

"Pffft, Karma-san might not care but…."

"Yeah, Mum'll probably be a bit annoyed that I pulled Miori and Kazu-tan out of school. But Dad's not going to be that bothered."

"I know that….by the way, where are your things? Didn't you come straight from there to here?"

"Oh, we dropped off at RiRi's place first. "

"Ahhh, so you are staying at Aunt Rio's. I thought for some reason you'd be staying at Ryuunosuke-san and Rinka-san's place."

"Yeah, that'd be cool, but somehow I don't think Chiba-san and HayaRin could deal with all four of us and the baby, Tadacchi. But we're probably going to go over there to babysit for them at some point, right?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Hey, Akabane." Tsukuda interrupted with a grin. "I was wondering- do you nickname absolutely _everyone_ you meet?"

 _I was wondering the same thing, to be honest._

"Just the people in my age group or younger, as well as the occasional close adult. Why'd ya wanna know, Tsukun?"

"Oh, no reason."

"But that isn't true, is it?" Kuroba interjected. "I noticed you don't nickname your sister. It could just be a because-you're-related thing, but you've even inflicted the misfortune on your brothers. Yet, you've left her name intact. Explain that, Akabane."

Eriko exchanged a look with Kaori, who was also listening, wondering how Kou would respond to the challenge.

"That's because Kou-Nii gave me my name in the first place." Miori announced unexpectedly. She lifted her chin up, very proud of this fact.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait! Kid, did you just say that _he named you_?" Jori spluttered. Miori nodded vigorously.

"It's true! Mum and Daddy told me so."

"It's true!" Kazuo echoed from next to Tada.

"It's true," Tada confirmed. "It's a bit of our childhood folklore, as it were, that when Kou-kun's mum was expecting Miori-Chan, he already knew that she would be a girl, and decided in advance that her name would be Miori. They themselves didn't know if that was right or not, because they never did find out this information prior to birth. So the story goes after a few months or so of Kou-kun insisting on this being true, his dad said that if it did turn out the baby was a girl, then she'd be given the name that Kou had already picked out for her."

"And, naturally, I turned out to be right." Kou finished proudly. "In fact, confront me with any unborn baby and I'll always be right."

Incredulous faces turned towards Tada who once again confirmed the veracity of the claim. Jori, Koujiro and Tsukuda laughed. _I can't believe this._

"Well, "Jori declared. "You'll probably get on well with Crystal Ball over here."

"Jori-san!" Fuyumi protested from Jori's back. Kou just chuckled at this.

"Maybe I will, maybe I will." The conversation moved to other things as they reached the bottom of the hill. There, Ayako was questioning the others about the possibility of all of them meeting up in the summer holidays.

"Well, I'm hardly going to neglect the flowers just because it is the holidays, so if anyone ever wants to join me I'd like that." Kinomoto said.

"I, too, will probably come up here. The forests are very rich, full of all sorts of things. Prime digging opportunities." Tsuwabuki rubbed his hands gleefully as he said this.

"Oho, Daichuu, are you an aspiring archaeologist?" Kou inquired.

" _Palaeontologist_." Tsuwabuki corrected, narrowing his eyes at Kou.

"Oh, really? That does sound rather cool!" Ayako eagerly said. She whipped out her notebook and flipped to a page to note this down, before putting it away. Everyone sweat-dropped.

"So, when should we meet up for the holidays, if we do?" Tada asked. "I mean, I can't imagine that small groups of us aren't just going to meet up with each other anyway."

"That's true," Tsukuda agreed. "Friendship and all, you know?"

"Hmm, yeah…" Eriko speculated. Like herself and Kaori, Izzy and Kuroba (and maybe Hana), even Kinomoto, Tsuwabuki and Haru, and there were more friendships besides but her head span a little from thinking of them, they all crossed over and connected _that_ much.

"I'd prefer a scenario where, if all of us _had_ to meet up, it was actually for a _reason_." Kuroba sniffed.

"What, like Ending the End Class or our summer homework?" Hirigi retorted. Kuroba was ready to fire off something cutting when he paused and considered, before nodding slowly. He pursed his lips, but did not acknowledge that Hirigi was correct.

"I'm rather busy over the summer myself, so I'd need a fairly good reason to do something like that." Yukiyama piped up suddenly.

"Oh, you probably have a whole lotta shoots now that school isn't in the way, right?" Ayako burst out before anyone could process the fact that Yukiyama had just volunteered something willingly. Eriko had to think back before she remembered the Kyoto trip and the magazines.

"I'm sorry, what?" Yukiyama had stepped back and tensed, eyeing Ayako as though she was a predator or something. Ayako blinked back, equally surprised by this reaction. Ruko, however, wasn't dazed at all, and stepped forward to get into Yukiyama's face.

"The magazines Hiro-Chan brought around for us back in Kyoto, you know, during the trip? Your face was plastered _all over them_! I have to say, you did look rather dashing on there, though it did come as a surprise, you dark horse. "

Yukiyama eyed her dubiously, his eyes seeming to darken with some sort of suspicion. Everyone held their breath, and the moment stretched out unbearably until…

Inexplicably, the tension on the boy's face cleared, and instead a smile stole over his face as he doubled over and laughed. And laughed, and laughed. Wheezingly so, as if he hadn't heard anything funnier.

"Y-Yukiyama-kun! Are you okay?" Tada asked, alarmed. Eriko didn't blame him, frankly.

"I-I'm fine." Yukiyama brusquely said as he caught his breath and straightened up, slowly. "Stop gawping."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever." Ruko riffled in her pocket as she went back to Ayako. "Hey, where did my sweets go?"

"You ate them." Was the deadpan response. Ruko blinked, and then face-palmed.

"Duh! I knew that." _Yeah, sure you did._ All the same, Eriko could not help but chuckle. And an idea had occurred to her.

"What if we all met up at the summer festival. Not necessarily to do the whole circuit together, but just at the start? And maybe for the fireworks too?"

The others all looked amongst each other and considered this.

"I like that idea." Haru said eventually.

"Yeah, I do too. " Tsukuda said. "I do like a good festival. Tada?"

"Yeah," the male Class Representative said. "That would be nice to do. Hiro could tag along with us, right? And Kou-kun, would you come along?"

"Only if I'm welcome!" Kou said cheekily.

"I don't see what the issue with that would be." Eriko reasoned.

"Well, I'm not vetoing it, it sounds like fun." Izzy said. "Sei-Chan, you'd have to come too, you know."

"Why?" But the way he said it sounded like he wasn't going to contest it in any way at all.

"I guess that's settled then, huh?" Fuyumi commented. "It seems like something to look forward to. I wonder what else this summer will bring."

"You're meant to be the crystal ball, don't you know, Yukki-girl?" Kou grinned and winked, causing the girl to groan.

"Kou-kun, let's go back home. Aunt Rio's gone back to work again, right? So have a snack at ours." Tada persuaded before Kou could cause havoc with his nicknames, a very imminent possibility. They all took that as the signal to say goodbye to each other and call out promises to set up the summer festival meet as soon as possible.

Then, they all went their separate ways to begin the summer.

 **…**

Rikio Hidaka dragged his feet as he left the building. Normally, he'd be racing out like everyone else, desperate to feel freedom and sunshine. But not this time. Perhaps, given the circumstances, he should have been motivated to race out even faster, to escape the stigmatisation and sniggers that had followed him all day. Just like a bad smell.

 _I'm going into 3E next term. 3E, the End Class, the absolute pits._ And it was all because of that English paper, for he'd never been that great with the subject in the first place, and the paper being half-written in English did not help. But, if he was being honest, he'd been a bit off-track in the recent weeks. Because of that cock-up he'd made regarding Chihiro Kitakawa. It had been painful, confessing only to discover that she was already going out with someone. But what was worse was the fact that apparently, this boy was a 3E boy. A no-hoper. When he'd heard, he'd dismissed it lightly and snorted at the idea, for someone like her could not possibly be prepared to lower herself that much, not even for a face more good looking than this boy's apparently was.

But he'd seen her one day, walking with 3E students. One of them had been her brother, which obviously wasn't odd at all because, well, siblings. But the other boy with them, the one her cheeks went pink over….apparently; she _was_ the type to lower herself, it seemed. As if the rejection had not been humiliation enough. It was hardly something he could or would do anything about, for he was too wimpish to, but _by Jove_ , did the very existence of that boy disgust him.

And now, he was one of those no-hopers. He'd been shoved in the corridors, everyone had stopped talking to him, he wouldn't be able to continue club in the second term, and his friends had pretended that all their times jamming together counted for nothing, going so far as to block him or remove him from their contacts on various sites. _It's an embarrassment, that's what it is._

"Yo, Hidaka. We'll have to stick together next term, won't we, it seems?" Hidaka startled and almost jumped a mile as he turned to gawp at the plump girl with braided dark green hair. There were so many tiny braids, no style he'd seen before… _oh, wait._

"Aida-san?" he remembered her from his class the year before, for she'd been the one tasked with showing around Hiro. She was in 3C now, if he recalled. "You're…"

"Yeah, it was a blip. Fucking maths. Still, whatever." Hidaka was surprised that it wasn't the English paper that had tripped her up, but he didn't comment. Instead, they kept walking at a snail-like pace until they got to the entrance. Mercifully, when they got there, hardly anyone was there, but all the same, they kept their slow pace up.

"Oi, what are you two no-hopers dawdling for?" _Oh, dang it, it's Otsuka-san!_ "Hurry up and get off the main campus!"

Sure enough, the despicable, grating female voice was soon accompanied by the sight of the despicable, grating bluenette, followed closely by Hasegawa. Hidaka stiffened and got ready to apologise, while Aida swore under her breath and took up an almost defensive mode.

"Well, you heard me!" Otsuka stopped in front of them. Hasegawa, on the other hand, studied them carefully.

"Yes, you are right, but give me a moment to counsel these two." Hasegawa said silkily, studying them. Somehow, this was more terrifying than Otsuka's very existence. Hidaka felt himself shrink.

"Counsel? What on ea-ohh, right, that. Got it." Otsuka stepped back a little, and let Hasegawa take over.

"I'm ashamed, frankly, to know that you've stooped to that level. " Hasegawa said. "But….given that you managed to stick it out this far, I'd imagine that you're made of sterner stuff. So, if you're able to prove that you still have that side to you, then there is a chance you'd move back up again. Do you want that?"

"I-uh." Hidaka blinked, sure there was a subtext behind the Student Council President's word, but could not grasp at it.

"Of course I do." Aida flatly answered. "All I need to do is get my grades up, right? Like you said, we're not that spineless. Why the fanfare?"

"Ah, but Aida-san, it's not just about that. I'm sure you'll get your grades up in good time, but this is about…loyalty to the school. Your time in 3E could be a good opportunity to prove it."

"Ah, piss off! Do you really think I'm that bloody desperate?! I'm not volunteering for mind games, so count me out of them! See you next term, Hidaka."

"Y-yeah, sure." Hidaka blinked. _Maybe I should get going too? But…I really want to know what President Hasegawa is talking about._

"Pfft that was a waste." Otsuka snorted once Aida was completely gone. Hasegawa fixed her with a look. It blew a hole right through Hidaka, though he was not the one who was on the receiving end.

"We still have Hidaka-kun here." Hasegawa smiled stunningly. "Isn't that right?"

"U-uh?" Hidaka knew he sounded stupid, but he couldn't help it. Things were playing out at a level he could not comprehend. Otsuka sniggered but Hasegawa did not, just increasing the wattage on his charm.

"So, Hidaka-kun, would you like to know? What it is you can do for us that'll help secure your place back on the main campus?"

Hidaka considered this. He thought of the bruise on his side from making the homeroom door's acquaintance, how he'd felt like a ghost most of the other time, the friends he'd lost, all as a result of this one little thing. And the humiliation. Above all, the humiliation. _I don't want to be on the same level as that person. I don't._ And that was what decided his answer.

"Yes."

* * *

 **((To get it out of the way before anyone asks, Tescos is a supermarket chain in the UK.))**

 **So, it looks like I lied, when I said that there wouldn't be any surprise additions to the 3E cast. But I didn't, promise! At the time, I did genuinely intend on keeping the class static in that sense. but a couple of things happened as the story came along and I decided I needed particular events to happen between the summer (which will consist of character development filler, different POVs and some romance ^^)and the big arc I have planned for this story. That, and Aida was a loose end I did not want to leave as such. Hence, this.**

 **But anyway, now for the big explanation. Yes, there is a reopened SYOC for this story, and yes, it will be different this time. Rather than present 3E characters, it will be related to 3E members of the past, and pertaining to my later, big arc. So these characters won't make an appearance straight after the summer, but they are still important. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you much more than that, as I want their role to be as much of a surprise as possible. To that end, I will now list all the rules, then leave the form on my profile.**

 **RULES:**

 **1) I am going to be stricter this time, and insist that all applications are PM only. I WIIL NOT accept applications by review.**

 **2) There are only 10 spots available- five male, and five female. You can still submit however many you want, however.**

 **3) Regarding names, I will still want Japanese names. Like before, half-foreigners and returnees are fine, but Japanese names, please!**

 **4) I do not want any characters from the 3E of thirty years ago, or from the current 3E of the story . Any time between those is fine, and even some from before the 3E of thirty years ago are fine too. The latest they can be is from 38 years ago. Why? That will explain itself later.**

 **5) Regarding relationships, no children/parents/other relatives/ close friendships of those who are in the current 3E of the story , or those from 30 years ago, please! However, more distant relationships such as colleague (or former), neighbour (or former), school club member (or former) and anything similar to that are fine.**

 **6) Generally speaking, in the 'Where Are They Now' section, I am looking for positive outlooks. Not necessarily fame and glamour and bliss, but positive. Interpret that how you will.**

 **7) The final deadline will be Sunday, 20th March (if that date is wrong, then whatever Sunday occurs that week). But I am expecting the slots to be filled sooner rather than later. That being said, this still is not first come first served, so do not panic!**

 **And that is all! The form will be on my profile shortly, so I hope you enjoy yourselves. If anything has confused you, please do ask me. And, as usual, please leave feedback!**


	35. A Collection of Mornings

**Normal Sunday update here! The modified SYOC is still currently open, and two spots have been taken, so I am now looking for 3 females and five males. Rules are in the previous chapter, but as a reminder- please send them to me by PM only, please. You can private message me on Tumblr if that is what you prefer, but whatever, as long as it is private :). Looking forward to see what other characters I get.**

 **But anyway, here is the first of the character developing filler chapters that will cover the summer vacation. It is rather drably, but it is also exactly what is says on the tin. And by tin, I mean chapter title ^^.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave feedback!**

* * *

He liked to think himself as someone who at least had some civility, despite giving up worldly life to pay off the price from all those years ago, but he just wasn't in the mood for breakfast. In fact, he wasn't that hungry in general. Instead, he just sat there, by the side of the old swimming pool that had been created so caringly for them. It had fallen to ruins since his time, given that a government secret had created it and it wouldn't really have been the done thing for others to know about it to be able to maintain it. He was surprised that Tsuwabuki (or even any of the others) had not stumbled across it yet, considering. So it had become little more than a dry pit, resilient vines and plants poking between the rocks and eroding them. It was rather pitiful, actually.

But even so, it was easy to be able to see that other, more idyllic version of both the pool and himself. That version of himself that was in the thick of quite possibly one of the most impossible-sounding endeavours ever, yet compared to the thing he had turned into now. Of course, he did not own rose-tinted glasses, he remembered the trouble this place had ended up being the catalyst for, but he also saw all of them. Karma being teased (for a change), Hinano and Yada splashing each other and laughing while playing catch with Okano and Megu, Okajima trying to take pictures of the girls, Isogai and Maehara paddling and chatting, the antics of the rest surrounding all them in a sort of carefree bubble.

And of course, there was her, floating around on the inflatable hoop, studying the bouncy ball in her hands and lamenting at her inability to swim (amongst other things). Her, above them all, because he'd taken so many of the scenes and times and moments they'd shared for granted. And now, he replayed them and replayed them as consolation and atonement for his inability to remain anywhere (the fact he was back in the forest the clear evidence of this failing), as he gazed out at the barren, pitiful former swimming pool and saw blue water, laughing teenager, and a ridiculous yellow octopus. The images, though vivid as they played and repeated, blurred at the edges with regret and hindsight.

No, he had no rose-tinted glasses, but it was fine. There were worse ways to spend a morning, after all.

 **…**

No matter how early he got up to set up All is Possible for opening times, Sugaya could never get tired of it. The shop was his, after all. His idea and creation, his vision and his dream and in a sense, his reward. He'd saved his share of the reward money, figuring it would be useful for a rainy day, given that artists often toiled and struggled for a long time before even glimpsing success. But he'd ended up going in a different direction, and almost seventeen years ago, All Is Possible had opened its doors to the world, and had yet to shut them. And, as he spent yet another early morning putting things up and sorting out what needed to be sorted for the day to begin smoothly, he found himself grateful for the fact.

He'd initially thought of calling the shop 'Anything Is Possible', given that the phrase was more grammatically correct and that was the message he'd been wanting to convey with the array of items he was going to produce and sell here. But Mimura hadn't thought it fully captured the spirit of the shop, what with the sky mural that he'd lovingly painted onto the roof (one of the first parts of the shop he'd decorated, once he'd been granted permission to buy the site), and Fuwa had staunchly informed him it sounded way too superheroish for such a dreamy place. It was Hazama, that scary word wizard they were all inexplicably fond of, who'd suggested 'All is Possible' instead, as it had the more poetic ring. And she'd proved to be right.

Strategically out some of the more fragile sculptures that he'd stashed away the night before and making sure they were in visible but safe places, he looked out at the sun that streamed through the shop windows already. It was one of the main advantages of the summer, not having to head out in the dark. Although he'd learned from Mimura about the magic that all sorts of lighting could bring to a scene, to him, nothing beat the sunshine. And that sunshine would be bringing all sorts of customers to his door. He always had steady streams of both art students and aspiring young artists flocking here for advice as well as items, and various retired or unemployed hobbyists, and a couple of these even occasionally worked part-time for him, and their perspectives were always welcome. Not to mention the more kitschy types who wanted things to decorate their houses with, or to give as gifts. But with the holidays freeing so many of them from restrictions, there would be more of all these types of people, including those who enjoyed the arts but often could not find the time due to employment or full time studies. Then, there were tourists and those who came to the area from other parts of Japan because of family and friends, drawn to the things he displayed and wanting to know more. So many people with dreams and imaginations. Perhaps he would have one day found National Gallery-esque fame if he hadn't started this job, but what was fame compared to the genesis of an entire new world?

 _And then of course, there's all the 3E students, can't forget them. Not just those of our 3E, but those of this current 3E, as well._

Once Sugaya was satisfied with the arrangement of the clothing section, he moved over to the second great masterpiece of All Is Possible- the great painting. Or, 'THE GREAT PAINTING!' as Maehara often liked to jokingly proclaim. It had been in him since that time of 13 years ago, this painting, as it was her imprisonment and his disappearance that had begun to signal that their tightly knitted collective was fraying. At almost four years running, the shop was still getting used to its feet, as it were, and so although naturally Sugaya had rallied around, perhaps he had not felt it too deeply _. I'd been sure that that not all was lost, that the disappeared one would reappear._ And of course, he did. But never long, never permanently. He had become a colour that was difficult to mix, a picture that refused to materialise on the campus, a sculpture that could not be made.

And then, much later, Hinano Kurahashi had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and any pretences of hope had fled. Oddly enough, _he_ had surfaced that day, for that particular reunion party, which may have precipitated the rush of feeling, the beginning to a creative impulse that throbbed and roared. But it easily could have been the fact of the tragedy in general, the fact it was happening to the sweetest member of the class, the one everyone loved, or the fact that he knew her children well and had been encouraging one of them along their dreams of fashion design, or the fact that it had seemed to hollow out their former P.E. teacher, who'd been especially close to this adorable animal-loving student of his. So many facts and feelings could have contributed. Even now, as he studied the painting carefully to be sure it hadn't sustained any damage or wear and that it didn't need any touch up anywhere, he was aware that he reason was not once which could be so easily divined

All he really knew that one evening, while closing the shop up as normal and getting ready to hand the reins over to Nishioka and Ueda so that he could rush over to the hospital earlier than planned, the inspiration he usually channelled to create his works had come up and overwhelmed him, tinged with despair, and before he or anyone else could stop him, he'd cleared that wall of what had been on it before, and grabbed a pencil. The basic outlines for the image had been completed overnight. He'd drawn in the final details the next morning before opening, and had cordoned off that section of the shop to protect it that day, often going under to start the basic painting during quiet moments, pulling more late nights and early mornings in pursuit of it.

He'd consulted the 3E photo album, both the actual album and the secret compartment within the covers of it to make sure he was true to the spirit of what he needed to portray, and he'd been finished within a fortnight. Ueda and Nishioka had tried to step in, to help or assist him, but he had refused. He, by nature, was not one of those pissy temperamental artists who threw fellow artists' work out of the window or other such things, but the painting was _his_ , and his alone. Though his two colleagues had been helping him run the shop for almost as long as it had been up and functioning, and although he trusted them, he didn't let them interfere with this. For the simple reason of them not having been part of that 3E, of that big and messy and complex and-even through the blows and the setbacks- _wonderful_ entity of youth that he'd once been part of. Hence why now, although they had used to come in at the same time to set up each morning, he made them come in two hours later than he did. This morning was no different.

" _And that painting, the way you all were in that….were you that sort of class too?"_

As he scrutinised each section of the painting once again, just to be sure, Sugaya found himself recalling the words of Hana Aoshima, especially as he moved to the part of the painting that portrayed Hinano, and then the section that portrayed _those_ two. Of course they'd been that sort of class. _Of course we were. And I wonder, if that 3E will be just like us. They're embarking on a pretty big adventure themselves, they're in the thick of something way bigger than any of them could have ever conceived and it's something that is all their own. Just as we made the whole assassinate-our-teacher-to-save-the-world situation our own._ Since helping Reimiya and Akira with the poster designs, he'd been finding himself looking forward to seeing them again, to witnessing what would become of them and their particular brand of heady youth.

Carrying the particular sets of paints, brushed and varnishes he'd set aside especially for the painting back to the safe he kept it in alongside the precious album, he grinned a little and started to hum a tune, keeping it up as he stashed it and locked it up before moving onto the next tasks. He wondered if, when Ueda and Nishioka got here and the store opened for the day, if he'd see Reimiya, or Akira, or Tada, or Kitabayashi, or Hana or any of them. He wondered if Hayami would come by with Kayo, or if it would be Chiba instead. Maybe all three of them would come, or perhaps it would be another friend completely. Mimura had finished the shooting of his latest film, Rio had the tendency to drop in randomly just to tease him about something, Isogai was always stopping by to check on everyone, and he'd heard the Akabane kids were in town this summer. So all sorts could happen, and he was fine with that, because though he kept himself firmly linked to the past, what with the great painting and the memories behind it, it was in the future that all things were possible.

And this morning, just as with every morning, he couldn't wait to find out what those possibilities were.

 **…**

The best thing about summer holiday mornings for Kinomoto was that he could take his muesli, honey and chopped fruits, put them in the bowl and mix them so it was all just the way he liked it, and then take it up to eat in his treehouse. It was a recently acquired favourite, for he'd only thought of it after the last day of the term, but now, it felt as if he'd never stopped coming to the tree house.

 _I kind of wish I hadn't stopped coming here._ He'd neglected it for what, two, three years? Time did funny things when you were grieving, and what with taking on most of the housework (thanks to Satsuki and Konatsu being ridiculously lazy), the turmoil of being in 3E, Ending the End Class and more besides that, the years had slipped. _I hope you understand that, Dad. It's not that I'd forgotten this place at all._ He looked at the windows with a bittersweet eye, remembering the making of it.

" _Can I try putting in the next window pane, Dad?"_

 _Standing by the window-to-be of the treehouse, his father turned away from the view it was about to frame and regarded him carefully for a moment, before breaking out into a big grin._

" _I thought you'd never ask, Makoto. Here then, give it a shot. You remember how I did it, right?"_

" _Yep!"_

Kinomoto could not help but smile in his remembering. Now that the pain had mellowed and become something that he knew his way around, he was able to know that neither of his parents would have begrudged him for it.

 _Time really is a funny thing._ It was something he wanted to tell Tada, really. It had been a bit of a revelation, back during that study group when they were new friends, to know that Tada was currently at the beginning of the curve that he himself was nearing the end of. And after knowing that Tada's mother had once been in the same position they were in now meant he couldn't escape this knowledge, and the comparisons his mind inevitably brought up. _But, I don't mind that. I've had the time, and he hasn't yet._ Though he knew that Tada's parents had died separately, Kinomoto also knew the two events had been recent in the grand scheme of things, and that they'd occurred on the heels of each other- one long and dreaded, the other sudden and unexpected. Not enough time to recover from the first blow before the second one hit. _In a way, it's like I have something to be grateful for, because although everything turned upside down that day, the rest of my world still remained intact. I had things to live for._

 _And I still have them now,_ Kinomoto mused as he finished the last of his breakfast and looked back out of the window. _Lots and lots of things to live for. And speaking of which, I'd better get going._ With a sigh and a groan, he hoisted himself up and then manoeuvred down the ladder. He mentally evaluated the weather as he did that and then headed back into the house. It was warm and bright, just as the other mornings of this summer so far had been. He'd definitely need to water the flowers at the building, and he hadn't done the deadheads in a while either so those would need doing too, if he wanted to keep the flowers looking good. Haru and Tsuwabuki would be accompanying him, as had become habit, but Hirigi would also be tagging along today. So he needed to hurry to make sure he did not keep them waiting.

"Yo, Makoto, you going anywhere today?" The eldest of his sisters, Satsuki, wandered into the kitchen as he dried off his bowl and spoon and put them away. She immediately wandered to the fridge to look for the left over bacon, so she could reheat it in the microwave. Kinomoto shuddered as she pulled the plate out, but smiled genially as he answered the question.

"Yes, I'm going to tend to the plants at the campus with my friends."

"They let you wear casual clothes when visiting the school?" Satsuki turned and eyed the cobalt blue jeans and the short sleeved brown sweater he'd pulled out of his wardrobe.

"It's an isolated campus, Satsuki-nee-san. I don't actually think anyone cares."

"Right, yes, I'd forgotten about all that shizzle." Kinomoto chuckled- Satsuki's lackadaisical attitude to the whole 3E system had never failed to amuse him. _I need to get her to meet the rest of my class._ And perhaps he could. But in the meantime, there were things to do.

"Okay, I need to rush off now, and I'll be gone a while, so make sure you and Konatsu-nee-san wash your dishes when you've finished breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah." Satsuki said. "You don't need to tell me." Which, naturally, meant that he _did_ have to remind her. Kinomoto just shrugged it off. He was used to it by now, so it was hardly a big deal. He'd probably end up having a heart attack from shock the day he came back to discover his sisters had cleaned up the house.

Once he'd grabbed his things, he went to the front and slipped on his trainers before yelling out to his sisters so that they knew he was leaving, and he slipped out of the house. When he got to the gate, he paused and looked back over. From here, he could spot the tops of the cluster of trees that included the one where his tree house was located. The way his breakfast had tasted all the better for being there was still fresh in his mind, which sealed the deal for him. _I'll be going back there tomorrow morning, I think._ Being in the treehouse had bettered his state of mind, and making the plan to return again just amplified that feeling. So, the anticipation buoying him, he turned back around and headed onwards towards the other things he still lived for.

 **…**

"Oh bloody hell, I'm coming, I'm coming." Still in her pyjamas, Ruko grouched along the landing to her front door and opened it, ready to give whoever it was an earful- unless they were coming with the order of Drama CDs she'd ordered recently. It would certainly be nice to accompany her 10am breakfast with some attractive male voices telling a story. But instead, the moment she glimpsed the person on her doorstep she flung the door shut again and-

"Wait, Ruko-kun!" Ueno cried out. He stuck his foot in the door and managed to prevent it from getting squished, a fortunate thing for he only had sandals on his feet, and he was wearing shorts to boot. "Hear me out a moment."

 _Why?_ All the same, she didn't storm away, though she didn't go near again. _I've missed you, you know, Shou-Chan. You and your need for boxes shutting me out with no explanation._ Instead, she waited. Through the small gap, she saw Ueno heave a sigh of relief and then shrug off the backpack he was wearing to get something out of it. Once he had, he held it out through the gap.

"Here, look at this." Ruko narrowed her eyes, then stepped out far enough to grab what he was holding and scrutinise it. As it was a folded sheet of paper, she unfolded it to read it. And then stopped, and blinked.

"Why have you handed me a photocopied form?" _And why the bloody hell is_ this _the first thing you tell me after five months?_ She looked at it again, her eyes picking up on particular words and phrases. Opt-Out. Kunugigaoka's Escalator System. Reasons. Principal's Approval. Date of Completion. Alternative Education Route.

"Is this….something to do with school? Are you moving away or something?" Not being a complete blockhead, she tried to put together what she could based upon what she was holding and who had handed it to her.

"No, not moving away. I'm just…trying to find something else to be proud of, something else to take pride in. And I'm starting to think that if I stay at Kunugigaoka for the rest of my school career I can't do that properly. Because…well…what I'm proud of now isn't a part of Kunugigaoka, at least, not in the approved of way. So I'm exiting there, and we'll both be taking entrance exams, and then perhaps we may even get to be in the same high school."

Ruko just blinked at him.

"Do you want to reword that in a way that makes sense?" she asked, keeping her tone clipped. She couldn't trust Ueno yet.

"I'm…I'm trying to say that I was wrong. For valuing the school rules above our friendship, and for not trying to see things from your view and for not being a good friend…for everything that happened since you got into 3E, basically."

"Right…and that's why you…what, made some random form to get yourself out of the escalator system? That helps make your case how, exactly?"

"Oh, it's a real form, Ruko-kun." Ueno went through his backpack again, pulled out the school manual and held it out to her. She snatched it and read the page he'd opened it on. _I didn't know this was an actual thing. Presumably nobody bothers because it's only 3E-ers who'll ever need to deal with entrance exams._

"Well, so it is." She said, lightly, as if it wasn't such a big deal. _Except it is, because Shou-Chan said that he did it for us. For me. If that's true then he's done something massive because…well…this is Shou-Chan._

"Did you really hand this in? "She asked. "As in, are you seriously going through with this? I didn't think you were that sort of person."

Something rippled across Ueno's face, and if this had been times of old, upon seeing that sort of expression she would have dragged him inside, plonked him on the sofa and shoved ice-cream at him in an effort to get him to talk. But if this had been an ordinary morning before 3E, she wouldn't have had a reason to keep him at the door for ages like this in the first place. So she waited it out, because everything was different and she needed to be sure she was acting in the right way, that she was judging things right.

"Maybe because I'm trying to figure out what type of person I am, myself. I don't think I ever really knew that as well as I'd thought….anyway, I get if you don't believe me, so you can ask Kitakawa-kun."

Ruko face-palmed instantly, misgivings forgotten momentarily.

"Which one, you nitwit?"

"Huh? Oh, right?" Ueno laughed sheepishly. "Hiro-kun, I meant. She also opted out. We went to Principal Okikura on the same day about this."

"Huh." Ruko didn't know what to say to that. She watched Ueno's face, searching for any sign of contempt, any indicator that he was stringing her along and was just trying to rub things in her face. But all she could see was regret. _So he means it, huh?_

Briskly, she held out the photocopied form and the manual for Ueno to take, and then she opened the door just a tiny bit, before fixing Ueno with her best laser stare.

"Do you have sweets?" she asked brusquely. The way relief bloomed over his face was incredibly endearing, a throwback to better days. And a signal for better days yet to come, she thought, as he pulled out a bright purple box and handed it over. It was slightly heavy and tied securely with a bright blue ribbon, which looked a bit like one of the hair ribbons Aimi used to tie to her bag during second grade. The memory made her grin unrestrainedly. _Welcome back._

"Well then, you'd better come in. I was just about to have breakfast, and boy oh boy, I have a _lot_ to tell you."


	36. Abigail

**modified SYOC STATUS: 2/5 female spots and 4/5 male spots open. 'Three years ago' seems to be a popular option at the moment, so I'd also appreciated it if there were some different ones. But obviously, do what you like. Ah, and make sure you are filling in the right form, okay ;) ?**

 **Ah, also, like a total cakewalk I forgot to mention this last week, but I finished the 3E Second Genners list, and I put the link on my profile too! So if you want, check it out!**

 **A Note About The Chapter Title: Before you freak out, there are no characters called 'Abigail' in the story. I just chose that name as a title because it means 'a father's joy', and I figured it was fitting because of the theme of this chapter- fathers. Of course, I could have put the name meaning in the chapter title instead, but I am stubborn and awkward. Hence, this chapter is called 'Abigail'.**

 **Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave me feedback!**

* * *

"Hi, Mum, Dad." Putting down the aster flowers that Kinomoto had told him signified 'remembrance' in _hanakotoba_ , Tada knelt down and started to rearrange the flowers that had already been left there, clearing up the dead ones and putting them in the plastic bag he'd brought along with him for that sort of purpose. No doubt the resulting bouquet would have a bit of a garbled message, but he liked to think it wasn't just about the meaning, but about the way it looked overall and the intentions put into the bouquet as well.

"It's just me today." He chattered as he went about his task. "Hiro wanted to come, you know, but she's busy. The Dance Club have some sort of school competition coming up soon, so they've been rehearsing a lot this holidays. I'll be going to watch, and Aunt Chika will too. Obviously Kou-kun and the others, as well. I'm sure if Karasuma-sensei was…"

Tada trailed off. He could hardly continue with that particular sentence, could he? 'Don't speak ill of the dead', and all that kind of thing? Besides, some of what he had said was lies. Or rather, partial lies.

" _What do you mean, you don't want to come?"_

" _Exactly that." Hiro replied evenly. Though the face she stared at him with was a neutral one, her voice was thicker than usual, betraying her._

" _But why…you don't want to come and pay your respects to Mum and Dad at the graveyard? I can do most of the talking."_

" _You probably would do that anyway." Hiro was kinder with this statement, but she showed no sign of giving in. "But I'm not coming, I don't want to. I can't."_

" _Your practise isn't until later, though? Right?" Tada appealed, trying to understand. He bent to lace up his trainers. "Surely you can spare a little time, to visit Mum and Dad?"_

" _Why? I think of Mama all the time! I pay my respects to her, we have the household-shrines here, don't we? But I'm not about to pretend that I feel that way about Papa!"_

 _Tada gasped, and shivered. He straightened up and searched his sister's features, hoping that he'd misheard her. But no, he hadn't. Something bubbling and horrible formed in the pit of his stomach._

" _Pretend?" he queried cautiously, still hoping. "Pretend what?"_

" _That he actually deserves to be grieved over."_

 _That was it. That was enough._ Enough _._

" _I don't_ believe _you." Unable to stop the shaking, he scooped up the bag with the flowers in and swung the door open and exited swiftly, letting the door slam behind him without taking a moment to call out to Chika. He didn't bother to look back to see what reaction Hiro had had to that._

He sighed, regretting that scene already. His flight tendencies were something that he'd have to work on. And he'd have to say sorry when they were both at home again, but he knew that they'd have to talk more than that. The apology would patch things up, for it always did, but he wasn't sure that in the long run it would be enough. There were more things he needed to ask her, and tell her, and in a better way.

 _Because I don't know why she feels like that. Or rather, I do, but I can't…I can't bring myself to do anything about it._

"So, anyway, Dad," Tada shook his head and tried to continue. "Aunt Chiyo came by yesterday. With Kazuichi, Honoka, Keisuke and Reina. Unfortunately. We didn't get into any fights though, and of course Reina wasn't that bad because she's still a baby really. But anyway, Aunt Chiyo didn't bother talking to me though, because she still hasn't gotten over the whole 3E thing, but she tried to butter up Hiro a little. Aunt Chika was good about it though- she told Aunt Chiyo to stop acting like a dolt and get over things, which was quite funny, though I guess you'd have to have been there for that…but yeah. She sounded every inch the responsible, scolding big sister, and I can imagine what it would have been like growing up with her now. Poor you!"

Tada laughed a little at this, imagining that he was exchanging conspiratorial whispers with his father over the dinner table or something, but the moment soon passed and he found himself feeling awkward. Talking for ages and ages wasn't usually a difficulty for him. He'd done it so many times in his 3E year so far, and he'd spent ages weaving stories of events to a still sleeping Karasuma. But for some reason, here, it was… _harder_. Sighing, he drew up his legs and rested his chin on his knees. _What else should I say?_ Grieving for his father was a more complicated business than mourning his mother, for all sorts of reasons. Then, being in 3E, he'd found himself completely surrounded by the details of his mother's life, so naturally, it had been her that he was mostly thinking of. _I've been neglectful._

Briefly, he wondered what Kinomoto would say about that. They had not discussed it in any length, but Tada knew that like him, Kinomoto was an orphan. _Orphan_. It was such a lonely word, and one that Tada had never imagined would be one that could describe him. Even in the months before his mother had died he hadn't imagined his life becoming that sort of life. _Then again, I didn't imagine I'd end up in a situation where I was fronting a project to change the system that Mum had to suffer through so long ago._

Tada sat up straight, almost bashing his foot against the gravestone.

"Yeowch!" Tada grinned sheepishly to himself. "Woops, sorry, Dad. I just realised, since it's been a long time since I last came to chat, it's been a while since I last told you about what's been going on with Ending the End Class as well. The last time was when we just begun it, right? A lot's happened since then, actually. A _whole_ lot. Let me tell you about it, I think you'll find it interesting."

 _There. There's something to talk about._ Perhaps the class was all about his mother, but it was his father from whom he'd gained the inclination to change things from, given that once he'd done a similar thing himself. His mood lightening at the insight, Tada talked, and talked, and talked, just the way he was used to doing.

 **…**

When Hana brushed past Asami on the stairs, she winced. She could not help it, really. The amount they'd talked hadn't been all that much since 3E had interfered anyway, but ever since that, it had decreased. All the way to the point it was painful to look at each other sometimes.

"Sorry." Asami muttered as they hit the bottom step and she raced on ahead to the kitchen. Hana nodded pointlessly and drifted behind.

"Well, you two took your time." Their mother said when they got to the kitchen. Hana winced, and she could feel Asami do the same, but apparently their slowness less of an issue at that moment, as their mother moved away from the oven with an exhausted gesture and picked up a tray from the counter before addressing them.

"Right, now one of you look after the lunch in the oven and make sure what else needs warming up has been done, and the other one lay the table, alright? Dad will be here very soon, and I haven't taken Kei breakfast and…argh. Things need to get rolling girls, they need to get going and _fast_. "

"It's fine, Mum, we can manage. I'll do the food." Asami said, going off to do just that, and efficiently, too.

Their mother nodded hurriedly and then bustled out of the room. Hana looked balefully at her retreating form before going to get the various items that needed to be laid out. Since even now, her mother held hope of marriage, whenever their father came around instead of having the two of them go to visit him in his apartment, it was a _big_ deal. Asami always awaited the occasion eagerly as well, but Hana just didn't know what to feel about it. And it was in such moments she could appreciate Kei's self-induced imprisonment. _Not that I want him to remain there. I want him to be free, to walk about in the sun again._

The song Asami was half humming and half warbling to in the kitchen wasn't one Hana liked, and it was off-key as well, but she didn't mind it too much. For one thing, Asami's voice was not nearly as awful as Fuyumi's. And it also did the job of both driving out any silence and helping to distract from the fact that she was setting up four table spots and not five. She regarded the chair Kei had used to sit at nostalgically. _What are we going to say if he asks where Kei is? Even the last time he came around, he was still up there._

"Ah, glasses." She uttered aloud, as she stepped back and regarded the table. She weaved her way to the kitchen, where Asami was peering into the oven. Hana noted with some amusement that the strawberry coloured stripes on Asami's cropped trousers were the same shade as the short bell-sleeved blouse Hana herself had put under her pinafore dress. Smiling thinly, she went to the cupboard where the juice glasses were kept, when all of a sudden the doorbell rang.

"Somebody answer that now, please!" their mother yelled down. Hana hesitated, wondering if Asami didn't want to go instead, but she just groaned, closed the oven door and stood up again before moving to something else on the kitchen counter.

"I'll go then." Hana said resignedly, and turned to quickly go to the door and answer it.

As usual, their father had gift bags in his hand and a big smile ready.

"Aha, look who it is! Hana! Oh, no, it's Asami, isn't it?" Her father put on a mock-confused face and Hana giggled obligingly. The joke had long gone stale, but Asami still seemed to find it funny and their father clearly got some pleasure out of making the joke, so there was not much she could do about it.

"No, you were right the first time." She said, faintly, letting him in and locking the door behind him. At that moment, her mother came down, dressed in an outfit that was suitably casual for a summer holiday lunch but still somehow striking enough that…well…it was striking. _Some things never change._

"Oh, hello, Shuuichi-san. You're early." Her mother said oh-so-casually once she reached them.

"Hello to you too, Yoshiko-san." Their father replied genuinely. "You're looking good today. How have you been? I don't see you much at work. "

"Well, I've been run off my feet with various things, so I've been spending most days holed up in the office, and well, any time I can get out into the sun, I do."

"I don't blame you, Yoshiko-san." Their father laughed. Their mother laughed along, and then gabbled something about the lunch before promptly disappearing into the kitchen. A moment later, she pushed out a fairly ruffled Asami, whose eyes lit up the moment she caught sight of their father.

"Dad!"

She laughed in the little-girl way she so rarely displayed as she ran-walked up to him. He laughed back, a deep belly-rumbling sort of laugh, and ruffled Asami's hair. Hana eased back a little bit, to allow them the father-daughter moment. Perhaps she didn't fit in it, despite being as much his daughter as Asami was, but still, she didn't mind watching. It was a nice scene, and she often thought that perhaps there'd be more days like this for them, if only her parents could have figured out themselves out.

"Gosh, the two of you have grown, haven't you? Now, do you want to see the presents I bought for you?" he asked, turning to look at Hana as well, clearly making sure to include her. Squirming a little, she nodded and shrugged. In contrast, Asami had no such inhibitions, though.

"Yes please!" she said. "Let's go and sit down in the living room. Lunch is almost ready anyway- I helped out with some of it." Asami informed their father as they headed for the living room.

"Oh, is that so? Well then, I'm sure it'll be good. Much better than my sad attempts at home cooking!"

"Da-ad…." Asami pretended to be embarrassed as they sat down. They chatted a little more, mostly about silly things, while he presented them the gifts. He had bought more decorative hair clips for Asami, knowing that she now collected them, as well as some cutely-patterned stationery and a stripy clutch bag with a strap. Hana also received some stationery, but in different colours, and in addition to this she also received some sort of puzzle cube, as well a couple of wooden boxes. One was the size of A4 paper, and the other was a little smaller. Curious, Hana regarded them. She found herself imagining the sorts of patterns and colours that would look good against the lightness of the wood, the types of shapes that would make life brighter, and how she could make them so.

"I thought you might like to decorate them, store some of your bits in them afterwards." Their father explained, as if reading her mind.

"I heard you've been getting into origami recently, so maybe you could keep your paper craft materials in there. "

"Cranes." Hana clarified. "I'm mostly making cranes. But I can do other things too."

"Ah, cranes, huh? Like the legend?" When Hana nodded, he adopted a deep-thinking expression. "Perhaps then next time the two of you come to visit, you can make me some origami animals, or teach me how to. I could put them up on my shelves, and they could give me company."

"If you want company, why not just get an actual pet instead?" Asami queried, raising an eyebrow as she attempted to clip some of her new hair clips into her hair.

"Asami, Asami, Asami. You just don't understand the power of art now, do you?" Their father teased in response. He winked at Hana, who couldn't help but giggle. Asami huffed in annoyance, but she too laughed.

"Dad, you're so weird." She decreed. Hana instinctively nodded to back her up. Their father put up his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay, I'm defeated!" he said merrily. The girls laughed again, and Hana set about putting the gifts together neatly, so that they could take them up and put them away. She put her puzzle box and stationery in the smaller decorate-able box, before putting that in the larger one. As for Asami's things, she put the clips that hadn't already found their way to Asami's hair in the clutch purse and then stacked that on the stationery set.

"Oh, you shouldn't have, Shuuichi-san! I hope you thanked your father, girls." Their mother came in at that moment and regarded the items as Hana sorted them and then put them on the coffee table so they were not in the way. Their father beamed at her.

"Oh, it's no trouble for my girls. I also got some books for Kei-kun, I thought maybe he'd like to read them while….recovering." He got up from the sofa and picked up the third gift bag he had brought along, and he handed it to their mother.

 _Recovering….? I don't think that's what…_ Indeed, by the awkward silence that fell amongst them, Hana was not the only one who thought the word was ill chosen. Unsure what to do, she got up and just smiled waveringly and expectantly, her eyes roving from one parent to the other. Asami silently came to stand by her side, though neither of them outwardly acknowledged this.

"Well, if he knew what was good for him, he would!" Asami eventually huffed, cheesed off, but mercifully breaking the moment. Their mother immediately rounded on her.

"Now, that's no way to talk about your older brother and you know it!" she scolded.

"S-sorry." Asami said, not sounding much different from when she had bumped into Hana on the stairs. She longed to catch her sister's eye, to take some comfort in the background they shared as twin sisters, but she was not sure it would be that easy anymore. Even so, she didn't move away from her sister's side, and Asami too remained where she was while they willed the moment to pass as quickly as possible.

"I-I'm sure it'll be fine." She stammered out, the best she could offer. Her mother turned and bored her gaze into her, and then heaved a resigned sigh. Some battles were just not worth having, especially on a day that was meant to be a good one.

"Yes, I'm sure Kei will love the books. I'll give them to him when I go to check in with him." She stated resolutely, taking the bag and gripping it firmly, rictus smile firmly in place. The twins' father nodded seriously at this, a little abashed. Hana found herself sympathising with him a little.

"Of course. Thank you. I do hope he gets better soon."

"We all do, Dad." Asami said sincerely. _Yeah, we do._ Hana nodded, again to back up Asami's words, and their father smiled warmly as he reached out to ruffle their hair again. Hana resisted the sudden urge to twist away, especially as their mother was watching them with a rare expression of peace and clasped hands. _Besides, in a way, it isn't bad at all. In fact, this is rather nice._

"Well then." Their mother said. "How about we go and have lunch? We wouldn't want it to get cold now, would we?"

"Well, of course we wouldn't. So we'd better get in there quick, huh? Say, Yoshiko-san, I heard Asami helped with the making today…"

They walked into the kitchen, their parents talking with some involvement from Asami while Hana trailed behind, half-listening and nodding in all the right places, but just keeping herself back. It was how things always were.

 **…**

"You're not nervous, are you?"

 _Of course not, silly Sei-Chan. But you might be._ This was the response that rose in Izzy's mind as they navigated the large house- and by large he meant mind-bogglingly enormous and complete with a bunch of house workers- to go to the office where he would be meeting his father for the first time. His _father_. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing that had ever, ever happened to them. Well, the whole 3E-of-thirty-years-ago thing was weird, but for one thing he had no idea what the real story was there, and for another he hadn't actually had that happen to him. This…this was a part of his life. A big part, given that he was meeting the other half of his DNA, as it were.

"Izzy?" Kuroba stopped, looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Izzy chuckled at the look his best friend- _no, my half-brother_ \- gave him, and he just shrugged.

"Well, it's a little weird, all this. I never imagined that I'd ever get to know my father. So I can't wrap my head around it."

"Psh, it's not that bizarre. My father cheated on my mother with your mother many years ago while mine was still expecting me, and the result was you. And I'm hardly going to rehash the rest, because you know full well how we ended up here after that."

Kuroba stuck his head up a little higher than usual as he concluded, betraying that he was indeed nervous. Again, Izzy stifled his natural response. This was important. When he'd mentioned that the mother who'd abandoned him at four for another country and a new man had been a 3E alumni, he had not expected Seijuro to tell him that he'd been trying to track down the relative of a woman who had been a 3E alumni- an adulterous one, as it turned out. Of all the reasons he hadn't been able to track down his father, despite knowing he had been in the same school his own mother had been in, a drunken night of adultery had not been a scenario he'd even thought of, despite how simple and almost cliché such an explanation was. And yet, that's where the answer had been all along. _It is bizarre, actually, Sei-Chan._

"Here we are." They stopped in front of a large wooden door- _is this a bloody castle?!-_ and Kuroba rapped at it once, very briskly. Almost immediately they were called in, and Kuroba pushed open the door and lead the way.

Inside was surprisingly ordinary. It was high end and neat and spacious, an ideal home office. The bookshelves were huge and filled with books, the few paintings on the wall were tasteful, and the window was large and had a good view of the back gardens. But it wasn't as castle-like as the corridors of the house. After he'd observed all this, he turned his attention to the desk. A big mahogany thing, the computer on it so utterly wonderful that Izzy thought he was going to explode. And then, of course, there was the man sitting behind the desk, regarding them with amusement. Or something akin to that. _Remember why you're here, Izzy!_

"It's fine, it's fine. Are you interested in computers, then, Izaya? May I call you that?"

"M-Mhm. Yeah, sure." Izzy mumbled, taken aback. His father, on first impressions, was both a severely suited businessman as well as a rather friendly-faced person. His hair was red, and so were his eyes, and knowing that made a certain sort of sense to Izzy, for the few memories of his own mother were filled with cold dark purple eyes. All in all, he did not seem as formidable as the image Izzy had somewhat built up, but all the same, he was not relaxed, not yet. For this was Shinjuro Kuroba, a heir to the Kuroba Medical Company who had gone off and formed an astrophysics research team which had started off fairly successful and then gone from breakthrough to breakthrough over the past decade or so with no sign of decline. _At least now I know why my eyes are red. Such a strange colour._

"I see. You look a little like her, you know. Kyouko, I mean." Shinjuro said lightly. "You're a bit more angular than she ever was, but the hair and the features. You're definitely a child of Kyouko's, there's no doubt in my mind about that."

"I…erm…" Izzy temporarily found his entire vocabulary depleted, and just nodded mechanically.

"You know, I was sceptical at first, to be honest, when Seijuro here came and told me 'Dad, I've found my half-brother.' It wasn't an eventuality I had foreseen at all, Izaya, you must understand that."

"That's why we got the DNA test done, you know. After collating the evidence we'd each collected to support the assumption and making sure there was just cause for taking such measures." Kuroba clipped out before Izzy could attempt to use his still-depleted vocabulary to string together a response. The torture of the week that it had taken for the results of the private test to be delivered safely to Kuroba's post box was still fresh in his mind, for it hadn't been that long ago, all things considered.

Shinjuro just chuckled faintly and brushed off Kuroba's bristliness. Izzy supposed it was only because he was used to it. Hell, in their class, even now, only he (and Hana, to an extent) managed to remain relatively unfazed around Kuroba.

"Yes, I know." Shinjuro conceded, crossing his legs and leaning forward a bit. "I wouldn't have expected any less. Still…they say seeing is believing, which is why I had Seijuro bring you over today, so that I could know for sure."

 _And? Am I what you expected?_ There was a silence in which Izzy regarded Shinjuro, Shinjuro regarded him in return, and Kuroba just stood by and observed it all. Shinjuro leaned back in his seat and picked up the single photo that adorned the desk- a woman holding a redheaded baby. Kuroba's late mother, a woman who Izzy knew was called Akemi, and who had loved and been loved by Seijuro very much. Izzy wondered what Shinjuro had felt for Akemi, given his very existence.

"So then, Izaya. Since I am your father, I need to know about you. And Kyouko, too, considering. Admittedly, this was a part of my past that I'd hoped to leave behind me, but you're my flesh and blood as much as Seijuro is and it would not sit well with me to cast you aside now. Especially since I was the one who asked to see you in the flesh. So, tell me."

Izzy slanted a look at Kuroba. Just what had he told Shinjuro, when confronting him with the truth? Undoubtedly that they were classmates, that they both had ulterior motives in joining 3E in the first place and that they'd been friends for a while before even realising there might be more to them than that. Clearly, Kuroba hadn't mentioned anything of his mother, something which he was both grateful for and annoyed about, all at the same time.

"I'm guessing that Sei-Chan didn't tell you, then…" Izzy laughed nervously."…I don't know much about my mother. I haven't heard from her since I was four years old."

Shinjuro was visibly startled by this, and he didn't respond for a full moment as he stared off somewhere that was not in the present. Briefly, Izzy wondered at the dynamics of the relationship that his mother and father must have had, for her to have made such an impact despite being a past 3E-er to his former 3A-elite status. He wondered what, exactly, this man's attitudes towards 3E were.

"I-I see." He murmured eventually. "That does not sound like the Kyouko I remember…" _I'd say the same, except that my memories are probably as fuzzy as yours are._

"So then, who is bringing you up, may I ask?"

"His maternal grandparents are." Kuroba answered for him. Shinjuro nodded seriously at that, and considered.

"So then…are you happy there, Izaya? Do they treat you well?"

The idea that he could be 'happy' at his grandparents' place was such a preposterous idea that he felt like cracking up. But he had a sense that this would not be appropriate, so he remained as sober and solemn as possible. He fisted his hands and stuck them in the pockets of his short-sleeved hoodie.

"They provide for me." The perfect non-answer, Izzy heaved a huge internal sigh of relief when this seemed to satisfy him.

"That's good, that's very good. At least that's one less weight on my conscience." The photo was picked up again, before putting it down again. "That being said, Izaya, I'm not about to shirk the responsibilities I have towards you. I'm not the world's best parent by any means, but I wish to be able to help you however I can. So if you ever need any help or support with anything at all, then please, do come forward. And of course, you can come and stay over whenever you want- I'm sure Seijuro's going to want that."

Kuroba didn't comment, but looked happy enough at the decree. Izzy snickered, then remembered himself. He was being acknowledged. Fully, without disdain, by a family member. _I will remember this forever._

"Yes, Thank you, D-D-Da…." Izzy spluttered and stammered over the word ' _Dad_ '. Kuroba immediately stepped closer to him, ready to spring into mother-hen mode, but their father laughed warmly.

"If you prefer, for now, you may just address me as 'Shinjuro-san' or something to that effect." He proposed. Izzy thought about that, and then nodded, blushing a little. It seemed a reasonable enough idea.

"We should probably get out of your hair now. You're probably rather busy, right, Dad?" Kuroba asked. He beckoned to Izzy, to prepare him to leave, when Shinjuro put out a hand to make them wait. Both boys goggled at him.

"Well, I do have some papers to review and there's that meeting I need to go to this afternoon, I believe. "

He opened a drawer and took out a tablet device, on which he opened his calendar and scrutinised it, before locking the screen and putting it away again.

"Yes, that's about right. But I think I can spare some time. So," he stood up and came around the desk, allowing Izzy to see that Shinjuro was a good few feet taller than both his sons, and in such a way that the height was held well.

"So," he repeated. " I might not be able to join you for lunch-which I'm sure Seijuro has already decided you'll stay for- but perhaps we have time for a tour of the house? "

"Dad, that'll take away valuable time…"

"Nonsense, nonsense! This IS valuable time." Shinjuro waved away Kuroba's worries neatly before facing Izzy again

"So, what do you think of that, son?"

"I think I'd like that a lot, Shinjuro-san." Izzy replied confidently, feeling the final dregs of tension dissipate. _Son._ Izzy could not stop a grin of the goofiest variety from overtaking his face, and when he exchanged a look with Kuroba he was smiling too. This entire business had gone better than he could have hoped, and all things considered, he was overjoyed.

 _And maybe perhaps one day, I'll be able to say' Dad' as easily as Sei-Chan does._


	37. The Little Moments

**Modified SYOC Status: 2/5 female spots open, 3/5 male spots open, two weeks left until closing.**

* * *

As he surveyed the area, Tsuwabuki wondered what sort of things he'd be finding that day. The forest that surrounded the 3E campus had been nothing short of a treasure trove since he'd started rootling around in it. The rock formations, the general lay of the land, the plants (though admittedly, plants were more Kinomoto's speciality), and the things that people left behind- their artefacts, and a few animal bones. Admittedly, he'd yet to come across any potential dinosaur bones, or even any fossils of long-extinct beings, but even so, he'd found all sorts in this place, and each time, it filled him with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Over the first term alone, he'd built a collection of trinkets and items that he could only presume former 3E-ers had left behind, perhaps when using the forest as a refuge. Some items were generic- pens, hair clips, rulers- but there were some more personal things, such as engraved jewellery, a phone case, some kind of figurine and what could have been some kind of hand-made purse. Though he wasn't sure how he would do so, he intended to return these things to their owners. But for now, he made a collection, and wondered at the lives of the people who had once been in their situation. And he was sure more would be added to that collection today. _And I wonder if the ghost would be here today._

He prodded the ground experimentally with his foot, kicking up a clod of earth and scuffing his trainers. Then, with a shrug, he set down his tool bag and set things up to prepare for digging, just as he'd been taught to all those years ago as an innocent eyed child accompanying his father.

"Right then!" he proclaimed aloud to himself once he was ready. "Let's see what will be unearthed today."

Given that this was a daytime dig as opposed to the after-school ones he did during term time, he allowed himself to be a little less vigilant about the time, and so he let it elude him, getting lost in the flow of his task. Even when he hit something or other, this concentration was not broken as he dusted dirt off the object, examined it, snapped a couple of photos of it on his old camera and then took it out and aside. It was all part of the procedure he loved so much.

And then his shovel hit something strange, and he was jolted out of his flow. Startled, he jumped back, landing on his bottom (and no doubt messing his jeans up- though that was pretty standard on digs). He straightened himself and looked briefly at his watch. _Oh, damn, is it that time already? I should stop to eat…but let me figure this out first._

He turned to study the area he'd been digging in when he'd hit the weird, squishy thing, and to his utter surprise realised that the shovel had dented it, even ripping some of the pages _\- a magazine?_ Tsuwabuki scrunched up his face in confusion and took one of the small brushes to brush the dirt away and reveal most of the magazine, a once-glossy-paged thing that was badly ripped, though it was still in surprisingly good condition. And, as it turned out, it was dirty in more ways than one.

"Who the hell buries a porn magazine?!" Tsuwabuki protested uselessly. He tried to avert his eyes from the various girls on the page, hoping to give them back their dignity (or something along those lines), but he soon realised that impeded him in being able to figure out what was going on, so he just sent a silent apology to the heavens. Carefully, he lifted the tatty porn magazine, and then came the next surprise, for there was something concealed in it, almost as if the magazine had been used to wrap up the time, but not quite. _How odd…_ almost fearfully, he pulled away the magazine and set it next to his knee carefully. And then, he was left with what could only be described as a knife made out of rubber. Green rubber, no less. It had a wide, short sort of blade, like a kitchen knife or a hunting knife of sorts, with a thick and sturdy handle that was a little bit shorter than the blade itself, which actually tapered off to a pretty good point for a toy knife. _Because it has to be a toy knife, doesn't it? Why else would you make a knife out of rubber? But that's hardly going to explain why it was wrapped in a porn magazine…and what's that writing on it?_

There appeared to be some sort of logo on the knife, printed in white letters across the blade of the knife. The letters made shapes that Tsuwabuki struggled to process, but on some level he knew it was English.

"S.A.A….U.S…O. So that is….SAAUSO?" Tsuwabuki felt out the letters aloud, trying to think if they spelled a word, but he came up with nothing. He then squinted at the letters underneath these large ones, but he may as well have been asleep, for all the sense those made. _I'm pretty sure that an 'UFO' is a thing, but not an 'USO'._ Perhaps he could ask one of the others who happened to be better at English. But until then, he would just have to put it aside, add it to his collection and move on. Still a little floored by the existence of the knife, he found his camera, photographed it and the magazine that had been with it, put that in the tray with the few other items, and then prepared to resume digging when his stomach growled, reminding him that he'd thought of taking lunch. So, with a sigh, he got up, brushed himself down, took off his soiled gloves and picked up his bag before going to sit on the nearby rock to eat. And as he did, he looked over at his latest haul, and wondered what it was about the knife that was just so _strange_.

 **…**

Reno picked up a green apple in his left hand and a red one in the other hand and compared them. He looked at the prices that were underneath the two crates and weighed up how the apples felt, and then sighed and turned to Reimiya.

"Say, Miya-Chan, which apples should we get? I can't decide."

Reimiya blinked at him for a moment, her gold-speckled eyes flickering as she studied him carefully. Carefully, she put down the shopping basket and leaned forward to regard the apples as they were in the crates, before twirling around to point at the red apple in Reno's hand.

"The red ones are better." She declared. Then, she blinked and rapidly went red. "I-I-that's f-fine, right?"

Catapulted immediately to the night Reimiya had come to their home, Reno smiled a little sadly and dropped the red apple in the basket before using his now free hand to pat her head and ruffle her hair. It took a moment, but she eventually smiled up at him and he had to restrain himself from letting out a bodily sigh of relief.

"Sure it is." He dropped the green apple back into the crate of green apples and moved to get some more red ones. "Say, we're meant to get five, right?"

"I don't know…" she picked up the basket and looked around. "Ryuuta-nii-san has the sh-shopping list. S-Speaking of which…w-w-where is he?"

Reno had to admit it was a good question. The two of them were in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket and Ryuuta was most definitely _not_ there.

"Uh…maybe he's in another part. I don't know why he just didn't tell us. Silly Nii-san." Reno huffed, annoyed. "Let's just take five apples for now and go find him."

"Mhmm." Reimiya murmured. Obediently, she picked out the correct total of apples and dropped them in the basket, and then they decided to go to the dairy section. Reno walked at the brisk pace he was used to, but soon noticed that Reimiya was struggling to keep up, taking strides that had to be longer than she was, and gripping the basket like her life depended on it. It would have been almost cute if it wasn't so pitiful.

"Here, I'll take the basket." He said. When Reimiya ground to a halt, he pointed to the basket that held the apples as well as a bag of oranges, a watermelon, carrots, three onions and some snack items. "You're having trouble."

By now, he knew not to put such an enquiry into a question, as Reimiya would just try to deny her struggles for what she thought was his sake and just carry on regardless if he had done that. Instead, he did his best to make it clear that they were family and so helping each other should be instinctual. She'd got that down pat when it came down to doing something for him and Ryuuta, but the other way around still left something to be desired. This time around, since he'd made a statement, thankfully Reimiya nodded firmly and after only a tiny pause, she handed the basket to him.

"T-Thank y-you." She effused as he hefted the shopping basket with little trouble. He grinned at her, and they headed towards the dairy section. Sure enough, Ryuuta was studying the cheeses with an exaggeratedly serious expression.

"Oh, there you are." He shrugged airily when he noticed they were there.

"There _WE_ are?" Reno narrowed his eyes at his older brother. "Nii-san, _you're_ the one who disappeared without telling us!"

"Relax, Reno. You found me, didn't you?"

"That's not the point!" Reno fumed. He left out a puff of annoyed air. _What if something had happened? Would Nii-san be so blasé then?_ "You're meant to be the _OLDER_ BROTHER, you moron…."

"You took the shopping list." Reimiya chipped in unexpectedly. Reno's anger dissipated just like that and both he and Ryuuta stared at her. Then, Ryuuta laughed and Reno deflated. _Argh, never mind._ Besides, he himself couldn't help but chuckle at how surprised Reimiya looked as Ryuuta surrendered and apologised, handing the shopping list to her. He then picked up two bottles of milk and dropped them in the basket Reno was holding without any warning.

"Gaaah!" Reno stumbled. "Do you want to maybe warn me first?!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"A-Are you okay, Reno?"

"Yeah, sure, Miya-Chan, don't worry, okay?"

"Mhm." Sighing, Reno put the basket down and ruffled her hair again. He wished that she could be happier. He knew it could happen- he'd been beginning to see it as they spent time in 3E, and whenever she was with Akira generally (and because of that, he'd never been more thankful for a classmate's existence before). There was just still a long way to go.

"Alright," he said rousingly. "There's 'cheese' on the list here. What was Mum's favourite cheese again?"

"Made backwards." Reimiya giggled nervously. "It's 'made backwards'."

"Huh?" Reno gawped at her, musings about her happiness momentarily shunted aside. Ryuuta was just as gobsmacked.

"Hey, Micchan, explain it for us please. "

"It's 'made' backwards." She explained, slower this time, her eyes dashing from Reno to Ryuuta and back again.

"Made." She repeated, before patiently waiting for the moment of revelation. Reno blinked once, then realised she'd said 'made' in English. _I get it!_ He clapped once in satisfaction.

" _Yes_ , I get it!" he crowed.

"Uhhh…." Ryuuta still looked faintly gobsmacked. "Reno, Micchan, I still don't get it."

"In English, the word 'Made' is spelt M-A-D-E." Reno started. He turned to Reimiya, silently encouraging her to continue the explanation, which she did.

"I-If y-you reverse that, then you get E-D-A-M which spells 'Edam'. T-that's A-Aunt Yuka's favourite type of cheese, right? So it's 'made backwards'. "

The three Kuroyamas just stared at each other for a moment right there in the dairy aisle, ignoring the flow of other shoppers around them. Then, Ryuuta slapped his forehead and groaned.

"Ohhh! I get it, I get it. I think. Anyway, that's a pretty cool joke, huh, Reno?"

"Yup, it is." Reno agreed. "Miya-Chan, where'd you get it from?"

"Aoshima-san shared it with me." Although blushing and hiding her face behind her scarf, Reimiya looked proud of herself. And Reno was catapulted back to a different time, but one more recent, when the class had been talking about the cleaning-duty-punishment in the wake of Okikura's new rule. _See that, world? That's proof that my sister Miya-Chan is a strong person._

"Cool." Chuckling, he reached over and found the Edam cheese before putting it into the basket and picking up said basket, before turning to Ryuuta and Reimiya, who were both scrutinising the shopping list carefully.

"So then, Nii-san, Miya-Chan. What else do we have to buy?"

 **…**

"Haruka, weren't you out earlier today?"

Haru swirled around, startled.

"Oh, Uncle Rei!" she gasped, laughing at herself. "Yeah, I did. I went with Kinomoto-kun to look after the flowers this morning. But I've got a study session today as well. A whole bunch of us organised it, so we can help each other with the summer homework and stuff."

They walked down the stairs together, Rei lagging behind her as she went to the kitchen to get the cake that she'd left in the fridge- the study session was being held at Hirigi's place, and apparently his grandma would be cooking for them, so she wanted to bring something small, at least.

"Yo, Haru-Chan, Whatcha taking the cake out for?" two of her other 'uncles' were sitting at the kitchen table and vehemently discussing something, but they stopped when Haru and Rei came in.

"I'm taking it with me. Sorry, Uncle Tetsuya, Uncle Kouichi. I know you both like cake." She explained as Rei went over to sit with the others. She looked around for a couple of plastic bags to wrap the cake container up in for safety, and succeeded. She then put it in the shoulder bag that she was carting along her other things in and hefted that onto her shoulder.

"Where 'ya going?" Kouichi asked.

"Some sort of studying thing, apparently. " Rei butted in before she could answer. Haru narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, I'm going to a friend's house to discuss some of the summer homework. Others are coming too."

"Oh? Whose house?"

"Kazuma-kun's." Haru explained. "You know who I'm talking about, right?"

"The little spiky-haired fireball who's allegedly almost as good as cooking as you are?" Tetsuya asked. Haru giggled at the description, it was that apt.

"Yup. "

"Okay, that's fine, I think. Did you tell the boss?" Kouichi drawled. "Do you need Junta and Kaoru rounded up to escort and tail you this time around?"

"Oh no, no, no!" Haru hurriedly reassured, waving her hands around, flustered. "It's bright out, and I'll be fine, really. Plus, Mum and Dad know so it's all okay."

Even as she said this, she unconsciously felt for the pepper spray and alarm she kept close at hand. The summer holidays had been relatively safe so far. There had only been one close call when a couple of main campus boys (and one girl with bright red lips, whom Haru could have sworn she'd met before, though she could not remember where) had approached her while she'd been shopping for spaghetti ingredients earlier in the summer. Apparently there had been an incident in one of the downtown places her 'uncle' Isamu dealt with, and though he wasn't actually involved, his name had been mentioned and of course, the rumours that had been surrounding her always had caused the main campus students in question to think it would be funny to harass her about it. It wasn't anything too difficult to handle, especially in light of previous experiences. But then the punier boy in the group had whipped out his phone to document whatever would occur, and she had seen red. But even as she'd felt herself fire up and harden, ready to take them on, something unexpected had happened.

"I don't think you're going to want to be doing that."

Haru startled and stepped back, and her ire disappeared as she tried to comprehend the presence of the hooded figure who had just appeared out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere really, as Haru had noticed him as one of the range of people also walking along the street conducting their business. But she had assumed that, just like everyone else, he'd move on and leave her because of her Yakuza connection.

"I-I erm." Haru stuttered, feeling herself flush.

"Who are you, old man?! Why are you interfering?!" the lipsticked girl spat. "We have some business with this criminal spawn here."

"No, you don't." The person, whoever they were, had a clear, ringing voice. It was comforting, and oddly familiar. But it was also cold and incisive, full of threat, all of it directed towards the three who had come to harass her. The person had his or her back turned to her but she imagined the fearsome sort of face that they might be showing to the three. Indeed, their own expressions indicated this.

"You should go, before you do something regrettable." The person informed the three, stepping slightly closer to them. A smile snuck into his voice, and again, though Haru found herself oddly at home with it, she also instinctually knew that was not all there was to it.

"Ah, and you, you go too." The person didn't turn to face her, but something in the way they angled their shoulders suggested that their words were now aimed at her. "You shouldn't waste your time with these people. You have better people to devote your energies to."

 _Yes, I do._ Haru knew an escape route when she was given one, and so she took it, walking off as rapidly as she could while appearing calm. A few moments later she heard the three scamper off in the opposite direction, and that made her think she should at least stop and turn back to thank whoever had stepped in. But when she spun back around, the person was gone. Almost as if they'd never been there at all.

"I'll be fine." She emphasised. "I know how to take care of myself now."

"Thatcha most certainly do, Haru-Chan." Kouichi acknowledged, his wise grey eyes crinkling. "It's just a shame we'll have to cook for ourselves tonight."

"Oh, I didn't think of that! I can stay to make dinner if you want. I can call Kazuma-kun and tell him to tell the others that I'm not coming…"

"No." Rei snapped out. "You go study hard, and enjoy your friendships while you're at it. God knows you need them."

"Yeah, I'm just jokin' with you, Haru-Chan."

"As long as you let your parents or any of us know if you're in need of any help, it's fine, Haruka-Chan. You're a young girl, you should be enjoying that, not holing up with us old farts all the time."

"Uncle Rei, Uncle Kouichi, Uncle Tetsuya…" Haru stared at them, feeling her eyes mist up. She blinked it back, rapidly as she looked at these three particular 'uncles' of hers. _I kind of wish that people could see this side of my family. Yakuza or not, they're still so very human._ Tetsuya gave her a mock-salute, which made her giggle. She readjusted the bag on her shoulder, and then walked back to the kitchen door.

"Alright, I'll be off then."

"Take care." They all responded.

"I will!"

 **…**

Hiro and Yukiyama walked home in silence, mostly. This usually would not have been a problem for although they always had things to say to each other, the quiet was good too, especially on deliberately long walks like the one they were taking back home today. No, the issue with the silence this time around was the fact that it was silence only for Hiro. While she had been sitting backstage watching Yukiyama's modelling shoot, the noises had disappeared and she'd soon realised her hearing aids had stopped working. And naturally, that was the day she'd forgotten to bring along spare aids or batteries with her. _How typical of me,_ she brooded, _I had such fun today and then this ended up happeni-_

Hiro was swiftly drawn out of her sulk by a sudden sharp tug at the sleeve of her tie-dyed dress and she found herself suddenly incredibly close to Yukiyama's form. She didn't clock it at first, and almost instinctively reached to cling to his jumper when she mentally skidded to a halt. _Wait, wait, WAIT, WHAT'S HAPPENING?_ Feeling herself go red, she managed to look up at Yukiyama. He was staring at something just up ahead with the most distasteful expression, so she turned to see where he was looking and noticed a teenage boy on a skateboard whizzing ahead of them. It didn't take much cognitive capacity for Hiro to realise the boy must have been skating dangerously close to her without her realising.

"Did he just go past us?" Hiro asked, hoping that her words weren't coming out too loud or quiet (though years of practise had meant she'd mostly got it down pat, so she wasn't too worried in that regard). Yukiyama's eyes widened and he looked at her, the distaste melting away. When he replied, he carefully made sure she was able to lip-read what he said.

"Yeah. Idiot." He blinked a moment. "Not you. Him."

"I knew that."

"Right, yes, of course you did." Yukiyama rolled his eyes and smiled slightly, then seemed to realise that he was still holding on to her, and let go, stumbling backwards slightly but steadying himself just as rapidly. His own cheeks flushed, and he averted his eyes, though he didn't turn away.

"Sorry." He said, still embarrassed. "I didn't mean to, um, encroach on your personal space..."

"A-ah, it's no big deal." Even as she hurried to say this, Hiro's face just got warmer. The moment before embarrassment had kicked in, she'd been thinking about how nice it was, being close like that. How special. _I'd like to try that again. I think I'd like to feel that again._

When they started walking again, she found herself staring at his hand. Though they had officially been dating for a little bit now, they had never really held hands properly, or anything like that. He often patted her head, or shoulder, and she often poked him affectionately or tugged at his sleeve, and they often walked fairly close together whenever they went somewhere together, whether it was her dance competition from the week before, a long meandering walk around the city like the ones they'd completed recently, or, like today, going to and from the shoot he'd had. But anything else….they were both fairly awkward about it, for different reasons. _Just holding hands would be fine, I think._ She'd noticed that Tsukuda and her brother often grasped hands easily, the way they were seemed to be rooted in tangible things such as touches, and they weren't even dating. She could see how someone would assume that they were, but she knew that wasn't true (yet) because Tada would have told her. Even with their issues surrounding the visiting of their parent's grave, or even remembering their father in general, they still told each other things. But even so, she didn't necessarily want the type of relationship Tada and Tsukuda had. That wasn't the point.

A tap on the shoulder. She startled, hoping that he hadn't caught her staring, and looked at him.

"Chihiro. Did you enjoy it, today? I know you might have been a little bored, just sitting there." Yukiyama asked. Her admittedly rather corny musings on their relationship shunted off to a side and she beamed affectionately up at him.

"I wasn't bored. It was pretty cool, actually, since I got to talk to that designer, Katsuki-san. That was interesting. "

"Yeah, Katsuki's designs are pretty popular, and even better, they aren't weird ones. I'm not surprised you two got on. But yeah, anyway, that's good, I'm glad." He said, clearly relieved. "I…I actually thought it was pushy, thinking you'd want to come along with me."

"Silly Saito." She laughed, feeling the warm merriment of her laugh deep within her belly. "Of course I'd want to see you in your element, to support you in what you want to do. You came to my competition, didn't you?"

"Why wouldn't I have come?" he immediately returned. The intense focus of his gaze was sincere, and Hiro found herself touched, the same way she had when he'd sent her the video Ayako had taken of him blowing all the soap bubbles and making everyone happy, but still wishing she'd been there. _This is what we're about. The soap bubble moments. Maybe I should stock up on soap bubbles- or no. I'll make a jumper._ As they walked, Hiro mentally measured Yukiyama up in her mind, brainstormed materials and tried to figure out which colours looked good against him. _I'll make you a jumper, Saito._ She grinned at the idea, happily. Yukiyama caught sight of her grin, and though he obviously had no idea what it was she'd become excited about, he flashed a smile back at her.

They didn't say anything to each other after that, as they continued to walk along a route that really was of the 'scenic' variety. When they started to approach a busy crossing, Yukiyama tapped her shoulder instinctively to make sure she was aware of it, and she was thankful. They reached the crossing, and waited. Given the business, it took a long time for the light to change, and so Hiro found her thoughts drifting back to the things she had been musing on earlier on in the walk, when the skateboarder had almost collided into them and Yukiyama had pulled her to safety. Hiro once again regarded his hand, and then Yukiyama as a whole. Looking at the crossing, and occasionally glancing left and right at the cars, he didn't notice her observations and so she ogled him freely. She noticed that just as usual, the distance between their shoulders was not all that much. _Saito…_

Before she could stop to think, before she could change her mind out of embarrassment, Hiro shuffled a little closer, then hooked her arm around his and snuggled in. _Soft. Saito's soft._ She looked coyly up at Yukiyama as he gawped at her, reddening a little. He blinked, and didn't say anything, clearly astonished. She realised that perhaps she'd been a little too grippy, and so she loosened her grip ever so slightly.

And he didn't pull away. Instead, he considered the situation, before looking back over at the crossing, then using his free hand to tap hers to indicate it was safe to cross. And so they crossed the road and continued the rest of their walk the way they were, neither letting go of the other.

 **…**

After making sure that Yuuya and the other two older foster children were in bed, Isogai finally decided to try and get to sleep himself. His own girls were obviously old enough to put themselves to bed, and in any case, Hoshiko was away on a basketball summer camp.

He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, trying not to yawn while the toothbrush was in his mouth, and he let his mind wander in random directions. He'd had a fairly busy day, as usual, especially as the summer holidays opened up more opportunities to see the children whose case files he was handling. That, and the added load of mentoring the current 3E. But he'd been doing the 3E thing properly for 25 years (and before that, he'd been 'keeping an eye on them' with Megu), which was longer than he'd been a qualified social worker and foster carer for. It was almost part of his blood, he could argue. _Not that I ever really had to argue it._

No, he'd never really had to argue about the time he devoted to 3E, despite the fact that technically speaking, it was no longer his problem. _In the first place, such s statement is inaccurate but that's hardly the point._ Once a 3E student, always a 3E student, it seemed, for neither he nor Megu or Maehara could stand back and watch others go the way they had been so close to going themselves. So of course he had to help, and he would have done so no matter what. But he'd never, ever, had to worry about that.

He was lucky in that regard, especially when it came to Mari and the girls. _I really am a fortunate man,_ he thought fondly, swamped with a wave of love and affection as he headed into the bedroom and saw his wife already asleep in their bed. Perhaps it had been because she'd been with him when he'd intervened with the boy about to jump of the bridge all those years ago, but Mari had always been supportive of whatever he did, and she'd never complained about the amount of time he'd spent with Megu and Maehara, or indeed the rest of the class whether it was his former one or the current one of the time. In fact, it had been her idea for them to have a version of the 3E reunion parties he'd held every so often to include spouses and children, and so that was how it had happened five years back. And, she'd become friends of sorts with Megu. Isogai strongly suspected that they swapped notes about him, but he didn't mind,not really. The idea actually made him laugh, a little. And besides, he was just fortunate, to have the life that he did now, with his 3E friends, the girls and Mari.

"Yuuma?"

Guiltily, Isogai quickly finished buttoning up his pyjama shirt and looked over, where Mari was sitting up and looking at him blearily, her electric green eyes searching. He noted that already, her curly dark hair was showing a severe case of bedhead, and again, he felt a wave of love. _I wish I could tell her the full truth about the 3E I was in, but of course, that can't be. Unless…maybe the Ending the End Class project might change things in that regard._ Noticing the curiosity radiating from his wife, he pushed the thoughts aside and focused on her.

"Did I wake you?" he asked, climbing into bed and getting under the covers. Mari shook her head and smiled at him.

"No, no, I wasn't fully asleep, not really." She said, yawning throughout. "That, and I wanted to tell you that tomorrow you're doing the little ones' bedtime."

This pronouncement was made with a wry, self-depreciating smile. Isogai raised an eyebrow at her and tilted his head to regard her.

"And why's that?" Isogai asked.

"Let's just say that Satoko's former rabid penguin nightmares have nothing on the army of invisible rainbow fairies that all need feeding with specially made invisible food before they'll allow their humans to go to sleep."

Isogai chuckled at this, remembering the vivid imagination Satoko had had as a pre-schooler that had resulted in many sleepless nights and humorous incidents. Ikuko and Hoshiko had not been much better in that regard, but he looked back on those times fondly. _Which reminds me, now Ryuunosuke-san and Rinka-san have all the fun of toddlerhood to look forward to as well. Perhaps I should go visit them, see how the baby's doing. I think they'd like that._

"Okay, deal." He decided. "If you can handle Yuuya-kun, Katsuro-kun and Seiji-kun, then fine, I'll take care of Kikuko-Chan, Jin-kun and the twins. "

"Done." She said. She yawned and rubbed her eyes again. "At least it keeps us perky, huh? Anyway, Ikuko will help you out a bit, probably. She's good with the twins."

"I'll ask when tomorrow night rolls around. We don't want to scare her back to her apartment before the summer's out." Isogai laughed, and Mari did too, for they both knew that as a middle school teacher who had a particularly cheeky class to deal with, the randomness of toddlers was not likely to faze their eldest daughter.

"Anyway, I'm beat, so I'm going to try and get some sleep. Goodnight, Yuuma. Love you."

"Love you too, Mari."

 _Yep, I'm a lucky man,_ he thought as they spooned together and fell asleep. _I'm incredibly lucky._

* * *

 **I wanted an excuse to write some fluff, so you ended up getting some fluff with the latter half of this chapter. Especially the Isogai bit. It's really easy to picture him having a stable marriage where, once the children are all grown up, they can reminisce about their youthful antics, and where they're just both really supportive of each other in a quiet, everyday yet unconditional and powerful way. It's a headcanon about his future I keep both within and outside the context of this particular fic, because well, Isogai is solid. Not to mention, he's an ikemen, so he deserves no less, lol. So yeah, I had fun writing that bit (is it obvious? hahaha).**

 **Anyway, as usual, hope you liked this, and please leave feedback!**


	38. Desideratum, part 1

**IT'S A DOUBLE UPDATE! But at the same time, it isn't. This chapter and the next chapter were originally together in one document, with the intention of it being a single chapter to end the summer holiday arc, as it were. But I quickly realised that it was getting pretty long- too long to have as one chapter, so I split it into two parts-i.e. separate chapters. But since I still think of them as one chapter, I just decided to upload them both at the same time, and just put it as a two-parter. And while I'm at it, I'll just explain the title: 'desideratum' means 'an object that you feel a desire or longing towards', and I picked that as the title because there is a heavy focus on romance in this chapter (both parts).**

 **As for the modified SYOC, there is ONE WEEK LEFT! Throw your OCS at me, seriously! I'd rather have too many to choose from than not enough, and at the moment I don't have enough so...yeah, help me out, please, lol. There are 1/5 female spots open and 2/5 male spots open.**

 **Now, I think I will leave any other things I want to say at the end of the second part, so here is the chapter! I hope you'll enjoy it!**

* * *

When Tsukuda got to the place they were all meeting before heading to the festival together, a few of the others were already there, including Tada. Hiro was there too, and naturally, Kou and his three siblings were too. As it was essentially the town square in which they were meeting, other people heading to the festival and other places streamed around them, all caught up in their own worlds. The air was filled with a type of bliss, which Tsukuda breathed in. _Life is good._

"Hey, how are you all?" she asked, grinning at her friends once she'd reached them. Given the number of them, they weren't meeting right at the entrance of the festival, but a little while before it instead. Once all of them were there, they'd go.

"Hello, Tsukuda-san." Kaito jumped in before his older brother could say anything silly. Kazuo's face lit up and he ran over to Tsukuda

"I'm fine, about you? Everything all right?" Tada replied. Tsukuda nodded as she squeezed Kazuo affectionately, laughing at his excitement.

"Yeah, it is. "She breezed. "Hey, Haru, I like your _yukata_." She really did-it was pale pink and printed all over with petal-shaped designs in other shades of pink, while the _obi_ was more of a red colour and patterned with pink roses. But still very, very pink. Tsukuda almost envied the all-pink get up, especially when comparing it to her own lilac-and-pink floral _yukata_ with a plain sky-blue _obi_. Not that she minded too much- she liked to dress up, and she did think her own _yukata_ was more than satisfactory. But even so.

"Oh, erm, thanks!" Haru said cheerily, blushing and fiddling with her sleeves as she did so. Tsukuda grinned again and casually surveyed the clothes of her arriving classmates. Some of the boys were wearing traditional clothes, like Tada, Yukiyama and Hirigi, but most of them were casually dressed in various different styles. Pretty much all the girls were wearing _yukatas_ , but even there, there was a whole lot of variety- Hiro's was more of a mini-kimono, black with impressive rainbow coloured spiral patterns all over it and an _obi_ that had similar designs but all in shades of yellow, Reimiya was wearing her stripy scarf with hers, which contrasted nicely with its different blue shades, Yamada had somehow managed to procure a _yukata_ that had crescent moon designs printed all over it, and rather depressingly, when Tsukuda spotted Hana skipping along with Izzy and Kuroba close behind, she noticed that the smaller girl was wearing slip-on sneakers with her abstract-patterned violet-and-mint green _yukata_.

"Hana. Really?" Tsukuda raised an eyebrow. But when Hana stopped and just gazed at her she sighed and gave up. Kou snickered in the background.

"Never mind." She sighed. Hana beamed at her. Izzy,-who was casually dressed in a short-sleeved hoodie with a bright shirt and jeans saluted her-while Kuroba, traditionally dressed in sedate slate shades, just nodded. Tsukuda turned back to Tada, who was also traditionally dressed in leafy-green. _The colour matches his eyes. It's so pretty._

"How's Karasuma-sensei?" she remembered to ask. The twins both turned to look at her. For a moment, Hiro's face clouded with confusion before clearing. Tada, on the other hand, tipped his head gratefully at her.

"He's pretty much the same as normal, really. Everyone's making sure to visit him as much as possible, to talk to him and stuff, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. He's in a sleep state, basically. So that sort of thing will help."

 _Look, you've been believing for so long, I think that something will change, somewhere down the line._

 _I sure hope so._

"Mhm." Tada looked off into the distance briefly, and then suddenly, someone jumped on his back and he nearly fell over. Hiro and Yukiyama stumbled a little from the impact, springing apart. The culprit was none other than Ruko, who, rather unexpectedly, was accompanied by Ueno. He, in turn, was accompanied by a girl who looked to be about 9 or so, and a little boy who couldn't be more than two. Ueno held tightly to one of the toddler's hands, while the little girl held the other. Ruko let go of Tada and grinned devilishly, adjusting the cord that her camera hung from.

"So…it really was true." Tada said. He did not sound surprised at all, though he had grown contemplative as he studied Ueno. Kou, who had been talking with Tsuwabuki and Kinomoto, whipped around and stared. Miori, who was standing next to him, also turned to watch, and her round golden eyes widened when they noticed the girl. Kazuo, still clinging like a happy monkey to Tsukuda, also watched the proceedings.

"Yes. It is. I can understand your scepticism."

"Tada?!" Tsukuda spluttered. She'd not seen Ueno since the end-of-year exams that, in her mind, were now so long ago. But she knew that he had basically ignored Tada, and Ruko too. Any one he'd been talking to who was currently in 3E, he'd ignored. And perhaps it was a small blessing he hadn't been going out of his way to torture them, but she still considered it unnecessarily cruel, so she mentally prepared herself, and speared him with a scathing look.

"Tada-Chan! Would I lie to you?!" Ruko fluttered her eyelashes and regarded Tada through them in a teasing manner. Ueno just rolled his eyes and used his free hand to whack Ruko lightly on the back of the head, causing her to whip around and stick her tongue out at him. This made the little boy who was watching them giggle, and he pulled his hands out of the grip of those who were holding them to stretch them out at Ruko.

"Ru-ru!" he called. "Ru-ru!"

"Yes, Souji-Chan, Ru-ru's here!" Ruko crooned as she knelt down to entertain the boy. Ueno smiled fondly at them before turning back to face Tada and Tsukuda. Kou leaned forward and stared at Ueno, who startled a little.

"Oi, Tadacchi, what's going on?" Kou stage-whispered to Tada, who just shook his head and whispered to him to wait.

"I apologised to Ichinose-kun and Kinomoto-kun the other day, when we studied together…and Takashita-kun too…wherever she is." Kinomoto and Tsuwabuki both turned and nodded at the acknowledgment before going to whatever it was they were talking about- plants, no doubt.

" Needless to say, I've already done so with Ruko." Ueno continued.

"Too right! It took long enough!" Ruko chirped from where she was now tickling the toddler-Souji- and doing some sort of trick with a toy he'd apparently been carrying with him.

"But anyway," Ueno said, shifting around uncomfortably, pulling at the collar of his dark orange shirt. "Now I need to extend that to you two- I am really, really sorry for how I treated you before. I….I was pretty stupid, all things considered. But I'd like the chance, if at all possible, to reconcile, and start being friends again? "

Ueno bowed, becoming almost perpendicular in his contrition.

"Ueno-kun…" Tada tilted his head, considering.

Instinctively, Tsukuda shifted so that she was just that little bit closer to Tada. He sighed, almost as if relieved about something, and Tsukuda felt the way the gesture made his body relax, not quite in such a way as if it was happening to her, yet she still found herself hyperaware of it all. It wasn't helped by the fact that something sparked when his fingers lightly brushed the back of her hand. _No matter what._ The promise she'd made to herself pushed itself to the forefront of her head. She didn't bother to shove it back, but tried to keep the rush it was producing suitably under clamps as she focussed on assessing Ueno as he waited.

"Well, if this isn't some sort of prank, or set up, then it's fine, you're forgiven." Tsukuda declared. Ueno looked up slightly, seeming ashamed, and a little put out.

"It's a tragedy that you've come to think that of me, as a main campus student. But I'm being a friend from now on. The fact you're in 3E doesn't matter- I'm not going to follow that anymore."

"Ueno-kun…." Tada said again. "I…erm. Well, thanks, I guess. And apology accepted. "

Understandably, he was still a little perturbed, but the hope threaded through his verdict was enough to make Tsukuda's heart leap. She was glad that this thing had gone right for Tada. She scanned the others, and noticed they were all just chatting amongst themselves. But Hiro and Yukiyama were watching, and neither of them looked particularly surprised. She was about to query about that when the little girl who had accompanied Ueno spoke up.

"I gave Nii-san one of your posters." She said seriously. "He needed something to make him less of an idiot."

"Huh?" they all stared at her. The girl gazed back patiently and waited, twirling a lock of plum coloured hair from her twin tails idly as she did so.

"The posters…." Tsukuda turned, wondering what Tada was thinking, and then jumped when he had his light-bulb moment.

"Oh, it's you, isn't it, from the other day? Could it be, you're Ueno-kun's little sister?"

The girl smiled broadly and nodded. She stuck one hand out to Tada for him to shake, which he did, crouching slightly as the girl was small.

"I'm Aimi Ueno. I'm in fourth grade." She said. "Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Tadaomi Kitakawa, but just Tada is fine. I'm in the same grade as your brother, and I'm pleased to meet you too."

"I know all of that already." She huffed. "You're Nii-san's friend. At least, I'm hoping you still will be even though Nii-san was such a big idiot."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Aimi-Chan."

"You're in fourth grade?" adorable Miori, who had been observing silently until then, piped up. "I'm in fifth!"

"Oh, are you?" Aimi turned to Miori again, interest reignited. "What's your name?"

"Miori Akabane." She stated. She then bowed. "Pleased to meet you!"

"You, too." Aimi moved away so she could get closer to Miori, and the two girls started to chatter eagerly. Kou and Ueno looked at each other warily, and then Kou just shrugged and grinned.

"So," he invited. "Aren't you going to come over and tell me about yourself?"

Ueno eyed Kou with some trepidation, but after quickly glancing at Souji and Ruko, and then Aimi and Miori, he went over, and they began to talk. Or rather, Kou began to interrogate him (no doubt to decide upon the best nickname for him). Ruko, clearly smelling a potential moment, whipped her head around and reached for her camera, somehow managing to deal with that while still taking care of Souji. Tsukuda shook her head and sighed at the lunacy of it all.

"All's well that ends well, right?" Hiro piped up. Tada nodded vehemently.

"….that's Shakespeare, isn't it?" Yukiyama's face wrinkled up. Tada chuckled.

"Yeah. Why?"

Yukiyama just groaned and shook his head, looking very close to just face-palming and giving up.

"Never mind."

Hiro giggled at this, and he sliced a look at her, which just made her giggle more. He rolled his eyes at this, but a smile tugged at his features, too. Perplexed, Tsukuda looked to Tada for some clarification, but he had no idea either.

Azama's arrival almost gave Tsukuda a headache, because he came wearing clothes that, while they were traditional, the material wasn't. Rather, it was patterned geometrically in blinding reds, oranges and yellow, with some black and white.

"I like the print." Hiro casually decreed when she caught sight of Azama. "What part of Africa?"

 _Huh?_ Tsukuda rubbed her eyes, trying to compute. Tada laughed.

"He's mixed race, Protector of the Small." Tada whispered into her ear. Tsukuda pouted at him.

"I knew that."

"Nigeria, this is Nigerian." Azama answered Hiro. She nodded seriously, and considered.

"I approve of that." She said, indicating the outfit, before turning back to continue talking with Yukiyama.

They all chatted casually with each other as they waited for the others. The little children amongst them- Miori, Aimi, Kazuo and Souji, basically kept themselves entertained, though obviously, they were looked over, and they ended up having more fun when they were then joined by Jori's two elementary aged siblings. It was quite a cute sight to see.

Jori also arrived with Eka and Fuyumi who, surprisingly, was walking. Or rather, hobbling along with the aid of her crutches, but all the same, she was walking, something which caused a flurry. She ended up having to sit back in her wheelchair, but it was a mini cause for celebration anyway. When Eriko and Kaori arrived together, Tsukuda was amused to observe that the _yukatas_ they wore complemented each other almost impeccably- Eriko's being white with a green and bronze sort of vine pattern, and a dark green _obi_ , while Kaori's also has a vine pattern, but in dark green against a lighter green background, with a red _obi_. It just made the fact they weren't actually sisters even more ironic. Naturally, Kou leapt right in with such comparisons, leading to Eriko wielding her little handbag to whack him on the head, and none too softly, either. The arrival of the few others was fairly unremarkable, and it didn't take long until the only one left to arrive was Ayako.

"I knew I should have gone to meet that moron." Ruko sighed, mock-exasperated. "I'll call her."

"No, no, let's wait a little." Tsuwabuki said. "We're still a little early anyway. Right?"

"Yeah, we are." Ueno and Eka confirmed at the same time. Both startled, but Eka jumped a little more violently, and stumbled. Ueno rushed forward to help her, but she'd already steadied herself by the time he got to her, which was to be expected, given the fact she was a gymnast, and he ended up just standing there, blinking uselessly.

"Uh….." Ueno scratched his head and looked at the ground. "Never mind."

"Erm…." Eka blinked at him. "It's fine. So, anyway, about Takashita-san…."

"Oh, there she is. Here, Shou-Chan, take back Souji-Chan, please!" Ruko handed back a confused Souji to Ueno, who sat the toddler on his shoulders.

"OI, AYA-CHAN!"

"RUKO-CHAN! Sorry I'm late, guys!" she waved at them, and then Tsukuda noticed that two other people were following Ayako. But she wasn't the only one who had noticed.

"Nii-Chan, is that Ikuko-san?!" Kaito asked Kou, who tipped his head and nodded. Tada also leaned forward to stare.

"It seems like it." Kou confirmed. "And, ooh, is that maybe her fiancé with her?"

"It must be." Tada concluded. "Ikuko-san! Ikuko-san!" he waved.

One of the people waved back as they got closer.

"Ah, you already know her?" Ayako asked. "No, wait, that makes sense, never mind! Ignore me!"

The woman laughed warmly at them, her electric green eyes assessing them, but in a kind way. Tsukuda suddenly realised that her dark hair (though it was blunt-cut as opposed to spiky and slightly tousled) and her pleasant features were very reminiscent of Isogai. And sure enough, her suspicions were confirmed.

"To those of you that don't know me, I'm Ikuko Isogai. I think you've all met my father, so I don't think I need to explain that." Then, she turned to Tada and Kou. "Dad was going to come here, with Mum and the littlies, but the twins got a cold and…yeah, nothing doing. "

"Oh, that's alright." Tada said. "What about you, aren't you going to the festival? What about Hoshiko-Chan and Satoko-Chan?"

"Ah, those two are going, but with Arisa, Youko and their other school friends. As for me, I'm going out to dinner with Akira." Ikuko smiled softly at this, and brushed back part of her hair. Tsukuda noticed the sparkly ring on her finger. Not to mention the pretty clothes. Both of them were very prettily dressed, as it happened.

The man with her, for this part, bowed and smiled at them, but didn't say anything.

"Ahh, so you're Akira-san?" Kou waggled his eyebrows, and then looked over to the rest of them. "Oi, Ki-Chon, that's your surname, isn't it?"

A perturbed Akira stared at him and nodded. Tsukuda sighed and shook her head, and then turned to face the new arrivals. He just shrugged heavily and sighed. Ikuko's fiancé looked over there, and nodded at Akira.

"Ah, that's quite funny. Given name?"

"No, family name." Akira corrected. "Written to mean 'intelligent'."

"Oh, I see. In my case it's 'bright'. Still, as Kou-kun here said, it's kind of funny.

Ikuko, for her part, stared Kou down with a very stern look, though, to Tsukuda's eyes, she could tell that she wasn't that annoyed.

"Behave." Was all she said. Kou theatrically pouted. Kaito groaned and the younger ones giggled. Kazuo wriggled away from Tsukuda and rushed to collide into Ikuko. _Rather depressingly, that makes me feel abandoned. Gaah._

"It's the summer vacation. Can't you stop being a teacher for once?"

"You're a teacher?!" Ayako squawked. Hana seemed interested by this fact and stared at Ikuko intently. Ikuko turned to respond to them, absently stroking Kazuo's hair as she did so.

"Yes, "she said. "Middle school, as it happens, though my homeroom class are second years, not third years like you are. But I've been teaching them about you all in Social Studies. It was a bit of a tough sell with the principal at my school, getting permission, but I managed it, somehow. "

"Really?" Tsukuda didn't blame Ruko for her mistrust. She was feeling the same way too. Though, she wasn't sure why. This was Isogai's daughter. Probably the eldest, given that she looked about 23 or so and Tada had asked about others.

"I can confirm that." Ikuko's fiancé put in. He grinned at them. "Ikuko's stubborn, you see. If something is worth teaching she'll try and teach it."

Ikuko gave her fiancé a _look_ , but smiled affectionately. _Tada, can we have something like that?_

"Man, I wish we had a teacher like you." Koujiro commented airily. Ikuko nodded.

"I appreciate that. But, if all goes well, you won't need me to teach you." She pointed out.

"That's true." Tada agreed. "Right, Hanae-Chan, Eriko-Chan?"

"Yeah." Tsukuda winked at Tada and beamed.

"Yes, it is." Eriko nodded, smiling at Kaori as she did so.

"That being said though, since I'm a teacher, I can try and help you with things. Especially when you're figuring out the aftermath of all this."

"The aftermath?" Yamada enquired, scrunching up her face.

"Sure." Ikuko said. "The aftermath. Think about it for a second. It's not going to be as easy as getting rid of one class in the year."

"That's true…." Tsukuda considered. She stroked her chin and brooded. "We've talked about this a little bit, haven't we?"

"Yes, we have. " Eriko said. "Though, not much, admittedly. Tada-san, you said about your father's thing, didn't you?"

"Ah, of course! Asahina Academy!" Ikuko said. "I forgot about that. Silly of me, given our my own school uses it."

"Ah, it's fine, Ikuko-san. And yeah, we're definitely thinking about what to do next. I'm thinking of doing more about that next term though." Tada laughed, a warm, warm sound.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but that seems reasonable to me." Ikuko's fiancé remarked, shrugging jovially.

"Yes, it is. Anyway, Akira, we should probably set off now. Tada-kun, Tsukuda-san, Eriko-Chan and the rest of you- enjoy the festival, and keep working out. My students and I are rooting for you."

"Thank you, Ikuko-san!" Tada said genuinely. "Have fun. "

He waved as Ikuko and her fiancé turned to go back the way they had come, and Tsukuda waved too. When the two were completely out of sight, Tada and Tsukuda nodded at each other before turning to the others.

"So then, shall we head off to the festival?" Tada proposed. "We don't want it to be over before we know it."

"I second that!" Hirigi cheered. Some of the others nodded at that, but Ayako waved her phone around.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Let's take a pic of all of us together- the tiny ones and our allies can come in too! For commemoration!"

"I wouldn't mind that, if you'd allow me to be included." Ueno politely said. Ruko nodded.

"Yeah, Shou-Chan, you want something for your memory box, right?"

"Can I have the photograph in my memory box too, Nii-san?!" Aimi demanded hotly.

"Of course you can, Aimi."

Tsukuda had no idea what they were on about. But after a quick flurry of conversation between the rest of them, they all came to an agreement and squeezed together for a picture, trying to fit them all into a selfie. Tada and Tsukuda immediately stood next to each other, and Tada looped an arm around her waist casually so they were both closer into the picture. The others jostled around them, and it was quite amusing.

"Gah, dammit, someone with longer arms take the phone, please? Just press that button there when we're ready."

"Haha, bet you hate being a midget now, huh, Takashita-Chan?"

"I'M NOT A MIDGET!"

"Oh, for god's sake, I'll do it, give me the phone, Takashita. "

"Gaah, you're squashing my ear!"

"Sorry, Katsu!"

"Miori, Kazuo, Aimi-Chan, come around here, to the front."

"Sou-kun, just stay still a little longer, okay?"

"Righty-righty then, are we ready?"

"YES!"

A single tap of the screen of Ayako's phone camera , and the picture was snapped. Kuroba took another snap to be sure, and then handed the phone back to Ayako with a world weary eye roll. Everyone stepped back from each other a little, allowing themselves to breathe again, even as they laughed. Tada unhooked his arm from her waist, and grinned at them all. Tsukuda grinned back but found herself wondering why she now felt something lacking in her, now he wasn't that close. _But, there's enough time to figure that out. Look at all that's ahead of us._

"Now then, let's go!" He proclaimed. They all cheered at this, and started running towards the fun night they were sure to have.

 **…**

If just last year, someone had come to Yukiyama and told him he'd have something to live for other than the promise of cutting free from his father and the godforsaken shrine, he'd have told them to get out, and not too nicely either. Yet now, on this warm summer's night, he was wandering around the stalls and attractions of a summer festival, debating about what sweet treats to buy with a girl he cared about. _It's a weird life I'm leading. I think I like it._

"But there's more in candyfloss. Like, it's a big cloud!" Hiro let go of his arm momentarily to illustrate the point by holding her hands apart at a particular distance, the apparent size of the candy floss. Her eyes sparkled and danced playfully as she tried to make her point. "So it's more worth it, because you've got a bigger quantity to eat. Ergo, candyfloss!"

 _I absolutely adore how she just casually dropped some Latin into this._

"It's mostly insubstantial though. A cloud is just gas, right?" Yukiyama countered, teasing. "You're the science-y one, you should know this. "

Hiro's impressive pout at this made Yukiyama laugh heartily- something else he wouldn't have believed he'd do. This year had changed him a lot, starting with seeing Hiro on that one long ago night, and continuing by being swept up in the crazy circus system of Kunugigaoka and spat out the other end. _But we'll be the ones having the last laugh, if we are able to do things right._

"I'm not a science-y person! Well, not just one, anyway. I'm more a hybrid, of maths and the art! Anyway, you haven't offered a suitable replacement for the candyfloss, if the candyfloss is out!"

"Do I need to?"

" _Yes_." Hiro's voice was exasperated, but she smiled at him happily and linked arms with him again. Yukiyama blushed a little, for he still wasn't used to this level of closeness, but he hid it by offering up his usual rebuke.

"Chihiro, you're incorrigible. Candy apples."

"Eh? Did you just say rain apples?" Hiro looked confused, and Yukiyama didn't blame her. The hustling and bustling of the surroundings made hearing a difficult task even for someone who was naturally able to hear anyway.

"Candy apples." He repeated slowly, making sure he emphasised the correct syllables. Hiro nodded, abashed.

"Right, okay. That's more plausible. Hmm….Oh, look!" she used her free arm to point, the elaborate sleeve of her mini-kimono rustling. She was pointing to the stall that was selling the various sweets.

"Well then, we'd better go there." He said, and when she nodded, they walked over there and waited. The queue was not that large, as it happened. An older couple, a few high school boys, some elementary school kids (none of them the ones from their own entourage) and a short girl in a peach-coloured _yukata_ with a bright green _obi._ She looked around her constantly, with some irritation, and occasionally glanced down at her phone. In other words, nothing to get het up about. They'd seen some main campusers -those who weren't Hiro or Ueno or Eka-here and there throughout the night so far, but none of them had given any trouble to any of them.

So, Yukiyama and Hiro lightly chatted as they waited, and the queue whittled down until it was just the girl in front of them.

"Three candyflosses, please." She briskly said, and then looked around. "Geez, where _are_ they?! Oh! Chihiro-Chan and…uh….Yukiyama-kun!"

Yukiyama narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, until he realised that her appearance made her an assertive, slightly more mature-postured version of Hana. Her eyes roved from him to Hiro and back, almost assessing. Then, she seemed to come to some decision, for she shrugged to herself.

"Hey, Asami." Hiro said. She herself sounded a little strange, and Yukiyama went on alert. He wanted to be someone Hiro counted on, so if the situation called for it, he _would_ step up. But there was no need, for the girls just continued their conversation. When the candyfloss sticks were handed over to Asami and it was their turn to order, Yukiyama stepped forward to make the request, and Hiro let go of him to step aside with Asami.

"Was your holiday a good one?" Hiro asked.

"Mhm. "Asami said. "It was just the summer, you know, endless and stretching and a little muggy, too. Like that one day."

"Oh gosh, yeah. I don't think I went out at all that day."

"Nah, we didn't either. So…how about your summer homework? All of it done?"

"Well, of course." Hiro replied. "You?"

"Yes, naturally. What sort of example would I be if I didn't?"

Hiro laughed at this. Asami rolled her eyes indignantly, then looked around her, peering over the candyflosses.

"I'm a little pissed right now. Nishizawa-Chan and Uemura-Chan, you know, from our class, I came with them today, and they made me buy their sweets for them….and now they've bloody disappeared! I don't suppose you've seen them, have you?"

"Nope, sorry. Thanks, Saito." Hiro looked up at him lovingly as he came with the candy apples and handed one over to her. Asami looked at them oddly.

"So, I presume you two came together?" she inquired evenly. Hiro fixed a steady look at her.

"Well, yes. But I came with Tada, as well some childhood friends who came to visit us this summer. And the rest of Tada's class, as it happens. "

Briefly, Yukiyama thought of Kou, who had, of all things, dubbed him 'Yukki-boy'. It could have been worse, he supposed. He wondered what sort of havoc he was causing- they'd spent a little time with him and Tada earlier at a game stall, and Kou had ended up blackmailing the cheating stall-owner with a big beaming smile. It had been slightly scary, especially as Kou had walked off with a whole range of goodies- not enough to wipe out the stallholder completely, but enough to make him feel it- and all he'd said about the affair was that he wondered how to distribute the goodies amongst his siblings. He'd given no regard to the stall owner at all after getting what he'd wanted. Truly scary.

"Mhm, I see." Asami neutrally said. She then looked down at her phone, and blew some air through her teeth. "Argh. Those nitwits. I'm so going to give them a piece of my mind when I actually find them. _And_ they can buy their own candyfloss."

Yukiyama and Hiro were taken aback when Asami punctuated her point by shoving the two candyfloss sticks that were originally meant to be for her friends at them. When they just gormlessly stared at them she groaned.

"Just _take_ them, okay?"

Since she was a bit of a tornado, Hiro acquiesced, and took one stick. Yukiyama raised an eyebrow at her, and she nodded at him. So he followed suit.

"Thank you, Asami."

"Yeah, thank you, Aoshima."

"Pah, don't sweat it. " Asami dismissed. "In any case, as I said, I need to go give Uemura-Chan and Nishizawa-Chan an earful. If I ever find them, that is. See you next week in school, Chihiro-Chan!"

"Likewise, Asami." Hiro nodded at her. Asami grinned back, a big wobbly expression quite unlike what he would have imagined for her, and then rushed off with her own candyfloss. Yukiyama looked at Hiro, who shrugged, and they began to amble again.

"Well, that was interesting." He commented. Hiro nodded, and brooded a little.

"Yeah. " She remained contemplative for a while as she munched at the candy apple, and then grinned and turned to him. "But now, look! We both won, since we have candyfloss and candy apples! But you're still in a bind, a bit?"

Yukiyama regarded her sceptically. "In what sense?"

This had Hiro giggling as she held up the candy apple, which she had begun eating, and then the as-yet-untouched candyfloss, there in all its fluffy, pink and ridiculous glory.

"See, I don't need to decide between starting the candyfloss first and the candy apple, as I was already eating the apple. But you, on the other hand, have a big decision ahead of you."

Yukiyama mentally face-palmed, but could not help but chortle. And then, he took a big, meaningful bite into the candyfloss. Hiro stared, aghast, and then burst into laughter, and they were in hysterics for a few good minutes before Yukiyama spotted a bench.

"How about we sit down there and eat for a while?" he managed to coherently suggest through wheezes of laughter. Hiro smiled at him in agreement, so they sat down there, and then Yukiyama transferred his candy apple stick to the same hand that was holding the candyfloss, then went through his bag and pulled out his phone, his earphones, and the bulky set of headphones he'd brought just yesterday. Then, he looked for the little special device he'd also brought that day, and plugged it into the earphone jack of his phone while Hiro looked on. After that, he plugged the earphones into one of the holes of the device, and the headphones into the other. Then, he put the earphones in his own ears, before handing the headphones over to Hiro.

"I thought we could listen to some music together. And of course, I know you use headphones, not earphones, luckily, they work with this little thing."

"Ohh, that's cool." Hiro was entranced as she looked at the little white rectangle that now perched atop his phone. "Perfect for sharing a listening moment with people."

"Which would be the point of it, Chihiro."

"I knew that, Saito!" Hiro retorted. "Anyway, what song? Anything new?"

"Actually, yes." He was pretty pleased with this discovery of his, one which had been utterly accidental. "Are you familiar with Mamoru Miyano?"

"Yeah, a little…."

"It's one of his. 'HOW CLOSE YOU ARE'. I think that's how you say it."

Hiro nodded, and then repeated the title back at him, but in better English than he had, before putting the headphones on. He rolled his eyes fondly and then found the file on his phone and selected it to begin playing. And then, they sat back, munched at their treats, and listened to music together.


	39. Desideratum, part 2

There was something freeing, but also incredibly lonely about wandering the stalls of the festival like this-hidden, alone, unknown. The best times he'd had here were the ones he'd spent with his friends from 3E, particularly that one summer when they were actually in 3E. But there'd been other good times, like with people he'd met in high school. And her, of course, always her. He still could not believe it had been about thirteen and a half years since the last time they'd walked around these stalls holding hands, dippy but content in love (almost like Hiro and Yukiyama, who he'd passed a while back). He was unable to acknowledge that it had been that long since they'd stared up at the summer fireworks together, as entranced as if it had been the first time they'd seen them in the first place. _I had a lot of good times here._ Those times, naturally, were long past. If he'd had anyone to spend this festival with, if he had been able to spend the festival in the way he'd done all those times before, this situation wouldn't have even been a possibility. And yet, it was.

But though that made him sad to know it, he found himself comforted seeing the children of his 3E friends, as well as the children of the current 3E, the ones he'd pledged to watch over. Obviously, not all of them were there, because not all of them were living anywhere near the area (a case in point: Megu lived with her son Sora in _France,_ a somewhat regrettable fact, for he would have loved to see how the first of their 'second-genners' had grown up). But just a few moments ago, he'd seen Hoshiko, Satoko, Arisa and Youko giggling together over masks, wondering which one to buy and taking photographs of each other trying them on. He'd had to duck behind a tree some minutes ago when Touji had dragged Maehara to a food stall, persuading him to buy more sweets before getting dropped back off to his mother. Ayako had been bounding everywhere, spending time playfully interrogating everyone in her class, while sampling all the fun of the festival on full throttle. He'd also had the dubious honour of spotting Ruko try to get some snaps of two of the Yoshida siblings play-fighting. Clearly, the girl hadn't realised the two were siblings, for they didn't look all that much alike, and it was only when all of them were gathered together, with their parents, that the resemblance was obvious. But it had been a bit too weird for him. And as he'd become familiar enough with Ruko to know that Hitomu and Yousuke wouldn't be harmed by her antics, he'd left her to it as rapidly as possible.

Near the beginning of the evening, he'd almost got knocked over by an ecstatic Hana running and dragging Izzy along with her, a disgruntled but amiable Kuroba strolling along behind them, scanning his surroundings. While Kou had been busy scaring a certain conniving stall-owner-clearly a case of 'like father, like son'- the more straitlaced Kaito had been busy with Hirigi, Koujiro and Kitabayashi at the shooting booth. The boys were fairly good at it, but definitely not near the level of getting banned from the booth, unlike a certain couple he knew. _We were such a weird and crazy class, thanks to Koro-sensei._ He'd had to chuckle at these observations, and he found himself wondering if the Chiba baby would grow up to end up being good at shooting, too. For obvious reasons, not a single 3E second-genner actually knew what their parents had done back then, but even so, their own experiences had affected the rearing of the children many had gone on to have. _How could they have not?_ He had seen it himself, even if, like now, most of that had been hidden and distant, like the ocean.

As he wandered towards the goldfish pool, he spotted Fuyumi, her wheelchair parked next to a bench where Jori and the main campus girl who was apparently their friend were sitting. They were all eating snacks and chatting- and surrounded by adoring children. Two of them were the younger Akabane siblings, and another two looked enough like Jori that he concluded that they were her siblings. The others were ones he didn't know as such, as they weren't second-genners or apparently related to the current 3E, but he'd seen them around, either on their school journeys, or in places like the park, surrounded by Hajime Miyamoto, who was also with the girls and the children, engaging with them as vibrantly as always, but also looking a little discombobulated. _Ehehe, looks as if Miyamoto-kun has some competition._ He didn't really know Hajime as such, but the high school boy was a bit of a fixture in the local community, as he was incredibly popular with young children, often seen playing with them or looking after them if need be. Hajime was also known for being the eldest child of teenage parents who'd become that way because they'd adopted him, a story that the boy was proud of owning, as it were, from what he'd heard. The story was only one he knew because Hajime's adoptive mother had attended the school he'd once worked at, though he hadn't taught her. _He'd be a good sort of role model for the children, I'm sure._ Keeping his head down, he smiled fondly as he walked past, the squealing sounds of laughter and fun cutting through the other noises and surrounding him as he did so. But then, another child's voice caught his attention, and he turned towards that instead of just walking onwards.

"But Nao-nee, I didn't catch a fishy yet!"

The speaker was a pudgy, pleasant featured girl of about six, who was kneeling by the goldfish pool, the net in one hand, little cup in the other. She wasn't facing it however, instead turning around to glare at another girl through her far-too-long fringe, which she kept out of her face by huffing every so often, neatly underlining her frustration. The person she was frustrated at, 'Nao-nee', he recognised as the Yoshidas' 10 year old daughter, and so he deduced that the little girl who wanted to catch a fish was their youngest girl, Kiyono. She resembled her mother somewhat, with paler skin, a button nose and brown-sugar coloured hair that was mostly straight but flicked at the end, unlike the spikier Nao, who was a little more olive-complexioned with darker, frizzier hair that was currently tied in two high bunches that shook as she scolded her little sister.

"It doesn't matter about the fish! Hitomu-Onii-San and Ayumu-Onii-San are probably going to be waiting for us, we have to go!" Nao planted her hands on her hips and glared at Kiyono, who refused to budge.

"No. I want a fishy, and I'm going to get one." Kiyono protested, gripping the net meaningfully. She huffed again to blow the fringe out of her eyes. Even from his distance, he noticed they were incredibly intense eyes- syrupy-gold but rimmed with dark brown, like the gold colour had burned at the edges. Captivating and oddly ageless, a weird aura to surround a six-year-old. "You can go home without me."

"Silly! Ayumu-Onii-San would be annoyed if he heard you say that! He said that Mum and Dad said we'd had to all look after each other and come home together."

Nao waited after this, clearly waiting for Kiyono to yield. But she didn't, instead just coolly turning around and returning to her mission of catching a goldfish, one which she approached with fervour…but no clue. _Which explains why she can't catch any._ He sweat dropped slightly, though Kiyono's efforts were rather adorable.

"I'm going to find Ayumu-Onii-san and the others!" Nao snapped out. "You'll see, they'll agree with me! Rei, come wi- hey, where did Rei go? Kiyono?!"

"Back to Hajime-san." Kiyono didn't miss a beat as she kept scooping and missing, scooping and missing. _Welp, she's got the deadpan face spot on!_ Nao just huffed in annoyance and ran away, calling to Kiyono to make sure to wait there. Kiyono, predictably, wasn't that bothered by Nao abandoning her, but was very bothered by her inability to catch the fish. She gritted her teeth and narrowed her unusual eyes at the water, as if trying to mind-control the fish into cooperating.

"You sort of have to slice, there's a knack for it." He took a chance, and came to kneel by the little girl, picking up his own net and cup, and nodding at the stall owner briefly before focussing his attention on the girl. He didn't take down his hood, but he allowed her to see his face, for she hadn't seen him before. She scrutinised him carefully, searching every centimetre of his features. He wasn't worried about this; for there was no conceivable way she'd recognise him. Still, it was a relief when she decided to stop scrutinising him.

"A knack?" was all she asked, visibly turning around the unfamiliar word around in her head. He nodded carefully, and smiled gently but encouragingly.

"Sort of like a way of going about it. Look, I'll show you." He demonstrated, easily catching a fish and holding it up in the cup. He shook his head when the stall owner reached for a bag for the fish, and let it out again. "Look, I'll show you. Watch carefully."

"Okay, Mister Blue Person." Kiyono focused her strange eyes on his hands as he repeated the motions needed to catch the goldfish successfully. It occurred to him that this was Isogai's forte, but he knew what to do anyway, so it was fine. After he'd done that a few times, he invited her to try, and she poised herself carefully to do so.

"Aw, I didn't get it."

"Hold the cup more like this, instead of like that."

"Oh, right. I'll try again and…oh! Oh, I got one, I got one!"

"Yes, you did." He smiled at the joy that spread across her face, which only increased when she received a bag to put the fish in. They stood up, and held the bag up to her face, and watched the little goldfish swim around and around. Then, she looked up at him, and gave him a gappy-toothed grin.

"Thank you, Mister Blue Person!"

"No problem." He nodded respectfully at her. At that moment, he heard Hitomu call out her name, and she turned and ran towards him and Ayumu, who was followed closely by Yousuke holding a large candyfloss stick, an even more disgruntled Nao, and a sleepy looking Rei, who had a bag of sweets in his little hands.

"Hito-Nii, Ayu-Nii, I got a fishy! I got a fishy! I know how to catch fishies properly! There's a _knack_ to it, and now I know it."

"Yes, yes, we see that. Nao said you didn't want to go home. I'm guessing this means you've changed your mind." Ayumu said. Observing from a distance, he could not help but chuckle at how Kiyono had adopted his words casually. Children were truly funny.

"Well, we need a proper bowl for the fishy. Daddy said that if I got a fishy, he'd find one for me." There was an eternal world-weariness in her voice, and her fringe fell into her eyes again as she fixed Ayumu with a surprisingly patronising look. She blew it away, only for it to fall again.

"Kiyono, don't you have hairclips?" Hitomu asked, ruffling his youngest sister's hair and pulling her fringe away for her. Kiyono pursed her lips, and then used her free hand to search in the pocket of her floral dungarees. She produced hair slides, which she held out to Hitomu. He rolled his eyes, but helped her clip her hair back all the same. Once that was done, he straightened up.

"Well, we really should get going. Kotori-Nee-Chan is waiting at the entrance for us, right?" Yousuke said. Nao nodded and bounced irritably.

"Finally!" She said. Rei yawned, as if to punctuate this. Hitomu grabbed ahold of Rei and Kiyono's free hands, and then they all began walking back towards the entrance. He expected Kiyono to point him out to her siblings, to make him show them the 'knack' for catching goldfish, but she didn't, and in any case, it didn't take long for crowds of people walking in all directions to obscure his vision of the younger Yoshida siblings. He stared in that direction for a while, and then turned and walked deeper into the festival.

 _Well, it's probably better that way. And, the fireworks will be starting in a couple of hours. I'd best go find a place to watch those._

 **…**

"Well, this is a cute little area. I didn't even know this existed." Tsukuda commented as they looked around them. Tada had to agree as he looked at the wooden bench in the clearing, flanked by two trees of a type he couldn't name in a grassy area. From here, they could see the lights and bustle of the festival, even if they were a little far from it, and the viewing bay, which would offer the best view of the fireworks later was a few feet away. Though it was night time, it was clear enough that he could see Tsukuda and his surroundings well enough to discern colour and details well.

"Did you not? But you've come to watch the fireworks from there, right?" Tada asked, pointing at the firework viewing place. Tsukuda gave him a sour look.

"Do you know _every single corner_ of your old area?"

"Touché." He laughed. Tsukuda gave him a sideways glance, then shrugged and laughed back at him, before sitting on the bench. He took her in for a moment, before following suit.

"I wonder if Eriko-Chan's going to be looking for us."

"Nah," Tsukuda reasoned. "She's solid-headed, she'll just go back to Kaori, most likely, and then they'll arrive together when we all group up to watch the fireworks. Gosh, those two really are like sisters, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I know. Weirdest coincidence, isn't it? I'm wondering if fortune played some bizarre trick on them or something." Tada leaned back on the bench, and looked over at the festival. "It looks nice here, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Tsukuda gazed across at it. "Pretty. I think that even if the weather turned and we couldn't have the fireworks after all, I'd still say this was a worthwhile night."

"Exactly." _Especially because you were here, with me._ Tada covertly looked at her from the corner of his eye, watched how the lights of the night reflected themselves in her eyes, the way she smiled to herself as she alternated between looking out at the lights and a sky that was resplendent, with a moon clear enough to excite Yamada. He was not close enough to catch the scent of her hair without actually sniffing deeply, but he knew for sure it was the same, familiar, Tsukuda-esque scent that he'd caught that time in Kyoto. He thought about how instinctively he'd drawn her face as the support and strength of his fictional hero, just as she was the strength and support of him. _I'll draw you properly before this year is out. I will._

They sky-watched for a while, and he sometimes gave her a covert glance, wanting to capture the very sight of her as many times as possible. He did not want to take her for granted, not now, not ever. He wanted to be able to glance to his side ten, twenty, thirty years later and still see her there. _More than that, if I'm lucky enough for that. Longer than that._

"We need to talk, don't we?" The next time Tada glanced over at her, he was surprised to see her watching him, too. They both froze for a moment, eyes locked, before she sucked back a breath and jumped back a bit, momentarily widening the gap on the bench between them. Tada just stared at her, blinking and confused.

"We…we do?" Of course, he knew full well what she meant. Tsukuda just blushed a little, and lowered her eyes as she averted her gaze and shuffled uncomfortably.

"About….you and I. Us. What we are as…us."

"So, you feel it too?" He shuffled closer, carefully and deliberately, but stopped so that he wasn't too close. "Am I right, to think that, Protector of the Small?"

Tsukuda flicked her gaze up to meet his eyes again, and smiled waveringly.

 _I'm not going anywhere, Tada._

"Too. You said 'too'." She blinked, once, in wonder. "You said 'too'."

"Well, yes. We're talking about the same thing." He reached over for her hands, nestled in her lap, and their fingers laced together, a long-familiar, always safe feeling. "We are, right?"

"Tada, are you silly?" she snorted, and giggled, and Tada chortled too. She was right, it wasn't really that mysterious. _You're here, and I'm here, and we're close, like this._

"Fair enough, I guess." Tada conceded. _But it's a little more complicated than that now, isn't it?_

"'No matter what'" It took Tada a moment to hear that his own wishes were being parroted back at him. "You told me this, back then, back when I met Karasuma-sensei for the first time. That you wanted to have a 'no matter what' in your life, someone like that. I'm going to be that someone, I've decided that."

"Y-you remembered that?"

"Of course I did, silly."

"Of course you did. But, Hanae-Chan, what about you? What do you want?"

" _Hanae_."

Tada just stared, and Tsukuda rolled her eyes exasperatedly, an expression Tada knew well, and treasured.

"Just call me by my name. No honorific, no dressing it up. Just my name. I…" Tsukuda paused, and puffed out her cheeks in embarrassment before soldering on. "I like it when you do that."

"Well, that works for me." Tada laughed, then waited a beat. "Hanae."

It felt extraordinarily good to say her name, just like that. Tada wasn't quite prepared for how that would make him feel.

"So…erm…anyway, anything else apart from that?" he asked jauntily. Tsukuda eyed him.

"The same as you, obviously. A 'no matter what'. For you to be the same as what I'll be. It's only fair, after all."

"Wouldn't have it any other way. But what else?"

"Eh?!"

"Well, I'm hardly psychic, but there's a something else. We're going to count on each other, aren't we? What is it?"

"I…well….erm…." Tsukuda's fingers tightened in his and she squirmed again, just a little. She also went very, very red as she muttered something. He thought about asking her to speak up, but he decided not to push it, and waited her out. Eventually, she pulled herself together enough to be able to meet his eyes again and pose her request again in a slightly clearer voice.

"Could you kiss me?"

"Huh?"

For some reason, his brain's first reaction to that was to throw up a random memory from a long time ago.

" _Just what sort of middle-school education did you have, Hinano?"_

 _Tada turned around from where he was drawing to gawp at their father, whose eyes were bugged out in surprise, as Hiro, sitting on his lap, looked around, stunned at the way all three female adults in the room were laughing at their father's astonishment. She caught Tada's eye, and he shrugged at her. He hadn't been listening to what Irina, Yada and their mother had been talking about, so he had no idea what had baffled their father so. Hiro pulled a face at him, then went back to watch them all. Tada shrugged again, this time to himself, and_

" _An all-inclusive one, of course." Their mother answered merrily._

" _Yeah, an all-inclusive education. " Yada parroted cheekily._

" _It sounds more like a 'too-inclusive' education to me. I hope you're not intending to pass on those skills to the twins. " Their father responded, still looking very weirded out. Both Tada and Hiro turned to gawp at him again, both recognising in different ways that they'd been mentioned directly. Noticing their confusion, he laughed a bit, and shook his head in amazement._

" _Don't worry about it." He winked at Tada, and tickled Hiro, who burst out into squealy giggles. She grinned and clung to his arm. Tada put down his crayon and decided to continue watching to see what his parents, Yada and Irina would do or say next._

" _I'm_ aware _that Tada and Hiro are_ five _. Geez! Besides, you're making far too big a deal out of it, Mamoru." Irina said, sniffing a little and holding her head a little higher. "It's not as if seduction is the only thing I know. I'll remind you that I'm responsible for these two-and their whole class-knowing key phrases in multiple languages."_

"Erm…Tada?"

"S-sorry. I just….thought of something weird." Far too weird, now that he was old enough to have a slight bit more comprehension as to what he'd been overhearing that spring morning.

"Is this something I should know about?"

"Erm….probably not….."

"Right then." Tsukuda narrowed her eyes at him. "You didn't answer me, you know."

"Did I not?" At that, Tsukuda puffed out her still-pink cheeks in annoyance and let out a long breath.

"Oh, right, well, erm…." _Could you kiss me,_ she had asked. A question that had brought heat rushing right to the very edges of his body. He wasn't sure he could, in the sense of ability, a fair enough belief as he'd never kissed anyone before. But he also knew that he wanted to kiss her, and that generally when it came to her, he _wanted_. _And surely, that makes it fine?_

"I…I don't mind, then."

Tsukuda's eyes widened, hopefully and almost a little fearfully too. He could not blame her, for those were about the sum of his own feelings too.

 _You really mean that?_

 _Of course._

A little nervous, he pulled his hands away from hers and cupped her face, carefully. Her eyes fluttered and closed, and he followed suit, closing his own eyes before leaning in. _Feels nice._

"Your hands are kinda cold." Tsukuda commented when he pulled back. When he stared at her, she gave an embarrassed half-shrug, the reverberations of which he could feel because she was still holding onto the material of his sleeves.

"It's a warm night." She tilted her head a little, and laughed.

"That it most certainly is." Tada laughed back. Despite the intensity of the moment just passed, and how it had passed, they both laughed for a good few moments at the inane little observation. Then, they returned to sitting side by side, looking back out at the scenery.

"We should maybe walk over there, don't you think, Hanae? Everyone will be starting to meet up now." Tada stood up and stretched, then turning back to face her.

"Well," Tsukuda, still sitting, glanced over to where they'd be watching the fireworks. "Nobody seems to be there yet, but you're probably right. We should go over there."

"We could be the first ones there, that could be fun."

"You have a bizarre sense of fun, don't you, Tada?" Tsukuda retorted as she stood up adjusted her hair pins. Tada smiled bashfully.

"Yeah, maybe I do." He acknowledged, before holding out his hand and waiting. Tsukuda blinked, stared down at his outstretched hand, and then met his eyes. Then, she smiled at him and held out her own hand, placing it in his and gripping tightly. He gripped back, and they began to walk.

* * *

 **Okay, clarifications time!:**

 **1- Ikuko''s fiancé is called Akira Iguchi. The Akira in the current 3E of this fic is Kiyomi Akira. I don't really want to refer to Ikuko's fiancé as 'Iguchi' given that'll be her surname once they marry, so I kinda fudged that a little.**

 **2- Hiro's misunderstanding/mishearing is due to the word for 'candy' and 'rain' sounding pretty similar in Japanese ( _ame_ ). At least, they sound pretty similar to me, so I just rolled with it. **

**3- I signposted a new OC of mine in this chapter, whom you may or may not have spotted (no, not Ikuko's fiancé, though obviously he is an OC of mine too). He will have a role much later in the story, as will the OCS you'll be submitting to me for the modified SYOC and some more of my own yet again, but since there is a point in this story where loads of new OCs will be introduced, I am slipping a few in here and there in the lead up to the very big arc of this story. But when it is someone's submitted OC, I will list them with who they belong to, as I did with the current 3E, rest assured :)**

 **Anyway, this brings the summer filler portion of this story to a close, and next chapter will start the second term! I hope you liked it and that you will be looking forward to the next chapters. As usual, please leave feedback!** **And also, as a matter of curiosity, apart from the two pairings I have established in the story, are there any others you ship in this story? If so, why? And what are your favourite platonic/ familial pairings in this story, and again, why? Let me know as part of the review, or in a PM if you are so inclined! :) :)**


	40. Second Term Starts

**Okay, so today is the deadline to submit to the modified SYOC. It is actually nearly all full, and thus I now only need _one more female character_. So, try and submit to me as soon as you can. Since I know you are all probably in different timezone and will be viewing this at different times of day, as long as it is _still the 20th of March where you are_ when you start to submit, then it is fine for you to continue the application and send it to me. I will leave the plot summary as it is for now, but I will change it so it says 'all SYOCs closed' in a few hours time, since I won't actually have time to do it early the next day anyway. So, yeah, please submit me a character if you can!**

 **And now, for the chapter! I do hope you enjoy it ^^**

* * *

"That's my seat."

The boy who was sitting in Tada's seat blinked, his sleepy, pale-parchment-coloured eyes baffled while he tried to process what was going on. Then, with a sudden yelp, he got up with a leap and coloured up instantly, looking as though he wanted to melt into his shoes.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. B-but I got here early a-a-a-and I didn't k-k-know where everyone s-sits, and t-t-the s-sensei isn't here and…."

"That doesn't matter, mate, it's fine, really." Koujiro stepped around Tada to slap a friendly hand onto the boy's shoulder, startling him more. "So, what's your name? I'm Koujiro Tobe, but you can call me Inazuma. If you want, that is. "

"H-Hidaka. It's Hidaka." The boy's eyes darted nervously from Tada to Koujiro, and then to Jori, who was putting Fuyumi's wheelchair at her desk, while Fuyumi practised slowly walking up and down the front of the classroom

"Do you have a first name?" Koujiro inquired cheerfully. "I'd like to know it."

"Oh! R-R-Right, sorry! Rikio. I-It's Rikio."

"Tobe-san, you're being too full on." Fuyumi pointed out as she turned and used her crutches to edge herself forward to look at Hidaka curiously. "Say, Hidaka-san, you're a member of our class now, right?"

"I-I-I, yes, I…." Hidaka hung his head in shame. Tada watched the awkward boy curiously. _A new 3E member? Ichijou-sensei didn't say anything…unless it was a last moment thing._

"You don't need to be ashamed of it." Tada told him warmly. "We're all in the same boat here, okay?"

Hidaka looked up suddenly at that, and there was a sudden flash of something bright in those parchment coloured eyes, that Tada could not discern. Something _enraged_. But it disappeared, and the nervous boy was back again.

"Oh, I, um, Aida-san's g-going to b-be joining us too, I-I think." Hidaka said. "B-but s-she isn't here yet."

"Hah! I knew it!" They all stared at Fuyumi, who shrugged prettily at them.

"Ah, there's one thing that's nicely put itself up for explaining!" Jori quipped. "Fuyumi-san is a bit of a crystal ball. You're going to have to get used to it."

"Jori-san!" Fuyumi protested, pulling up one of her crutches to poke Fuyumi.

Hidaka just nodded, his feathery burnt-copper hair half covering his eyes. He brushed them away and then blinked, holding his things close to him, and looking around him. Again, Tada felt sorry for the boy.

"Alright, how about we introduce ourselves to you, and let everyone else do the same when they get here? Kinomoto-kun, Tsuwabuki-kun and Haru-Chan, who look after the plants, should be here soon, so you'll get to meet them. Usually, they'd be here before us, but we surprisingly arrived here first. But it doesn't matter. I'm the male class representative, Tadaomi Kitakawa, but I'd like to be called Tada, okay?"

Tada then introduced Jori and Fuyumi to him, and when Tsuwabuki momentarily popped into the classroom, having noticed Hidaka from the window, he was introduced too. Then, he sent Koujiro to get a table and chair for Hidaka and Aida, while he rearranged the classroom space to make room for them. _Aida-Chan's ended up here too? How did that happen? The same way as Hidaka-kun, or something different? How come we're getting two new members anyway?_ He'd barely been able to process that fact when Hidaka had revealed it, distracted by making sure the poor boy wasn't too overwhelmed, but he knew that he'd have to make sure things didn't go too wrong. After all, Aida had been involved in what had gotten Haru excluded in the second year.

 _Give her a chance!_ Tada decided the best way to proceed was to just wait and see what happened, so he just went and chatted with Hidaka, hoping to ease him into the class life a little by telling him what Ichijou was like and the way their lessons were. He decided to wait until Hidaka had at least experienced a day in 3E before bombarding him with the Ending the End Class project. Of course, he may have been aware of it anyway, and they were hardly going to hide it, but Tada would wait until initiating him in, as it were.

"Hey, Tada, who's the newbie?"

Tada felt a silly and happy grin come over his face as Tsukuda sauntered in and came over to them. Reno and Reimiya followed her moments after and showed surprise when they noticed Hidaka, but didn't approach immediately, instead going to their seats to put their things away. Akira had also come in behind them, but she hadn't appeared to notice Hidaka, and instead went straight to her seat and pulled out her notebook to continue her writing. As Tsukuda got closer, her eyes softened as they came into contact with his, and when she got there, she smiled before casually leaning an arm on his shoulder and turning to Hidaka.

"So, I'm assuming that you're a new 3E member, if you're here. Ichijou-sensei didn't tell us anything, but she probably forgot to. Not that it matter. I'm Hanae Tsukuda, one of the 3E female reps. "

She regarded him carefully, but flashed a friendly grin at him all the same. Hidaka, on his part, looked a little stunned as he tried to take in the new information. _Don't worry, she'll protect you from trouble, because that's what Hanae does. She's the Protector of the Small,_ he wanted to say.

"Hidaka." Hidaka returned. "R-Rikio Hidaka. S-so i-it really true there are three Representatives in this c-class? I-I t-thought t-that was a-a mere r-rumour."

"Nah, it's true." Tsukuda breezily said. "I don't think Eriko is here though, is she?"

"No, she isn't." Tada confirmed. After that, for some reason, none of those around could think of anything to say, and Hidaka looked around nervously, apparently trying to take everything in. For some reason, Tada thought of what Hiro said to him at times when they disagreed. _Overzealous_. Part of him could put that away easily, because he knew his sister was more of a step-back kind of person whereas he usually tried to find something to dive into when bad times came, but another part also wondered if she was right, and if maybe that meant that now, he should back down and let Hidaka figure things out.

"You have pretty eyes."

It took Tada a good fifteen seconds to realise that Hidaka had uttered the words, and that they had been directed at Reimiya, whose 'pretty eyes' were now wide in sheer surprise, unable to tear her gaze from Hidaka, so stunned she was. Hidaka also looked mesmerised, but then after an awkward moment where those around them shuffled uncomfortably, Reno turned to get eye contact with Hidaka, and it was at that point reality seemed to step in for the boy, and he rapidly went a strange red shade, stumbling backwards and holding his hands out in surrender.

"E-Eh? I-I s-said that o-out l-loud?! I…I-I d-didn't mean anything by it!" he babbled. Reno didn't help matters by just staring Hidaka down. In the end, Reimiya tugged on his sleeve.

"Reno, I'm fine, really." She flicked a wary glance at Hidaka as she said this, but she didn't seem too upset, so Reno relaxed and turned away, before going to chat to Koujiro. Reimiya inclined her head and also took her leave, approaching Akira. Tada let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair before turning to Hidaka, who was starting to return to his normal colour.

"You shouldn't worry too much about that," Tada explained in a soft voice. "Reno-kun's protective of Reimiya-Chan because they're cousins and adoptive siblings."

"R-Right, I see." Hidaka obviously did not know how to assimilate this.

"But they're nothing to worry about, really. The two you really want to worry about are Ayako and Kuruko. "Tsukuda interjected, grinning. "But to be honest, they're cool-their main threat comes from their nosiness, so you can always tell them to push off. Oh, and Kuruko is probably going to try and snap a photo of you, especially if you happen to be talking to another boy….actually, is she here now?"

Tsukuda and Tada both did a quick sweep of the classroom, including the roof, knowing full well what their yaoi-loving classmate was like. Luckily, she was nowhere to be seen. _Although, if Izzy-kun and Kuroba-kun happen to be outside, she might be trailing them, instead._ Tsukuda pulled a face at him, evidently thinking of the same thing. Tada laughed, and then turned to Hidaka.

"Well, you probably want to sort out your things and just sit here for a while to process. So we'll leave you to it, and if you want to come over then go for it, okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Thank-ks, K-Kitaka- I mean Tada-kun."

Tada nodded, and then he and Tsukuda began to head back to their own desks. As they did so, they heard an angry female voice remonstrating with an equally furious male voice coming closer to the classroom. Tsukuda was across the classroom and out of the door like a shot, and Tada followed as far as he could.

"You still don't have a right to be here like this! That's just out of order!" the speaker was Hirigi, his light green eyes ablaze as he tore into Aida, who did not seem bothered, at all.

"Are you thick? I made it clear I'm not out to get Ichinose. Besides, couldn't you see that she didn't mind me being here? "

"Well, she wouldn't say if she did! She forgives, you know!"

"Well if she forgives then what's the problem?!"

"What's going on? Aida-Chan, Hirigi-kun?" Tada interrupted swiftly, before the spat could get any worse. Hirigi turned and bristled, like an angry porcupine. Aida just rolled her eyes, though she paled slightly when she made eye contact with Tada, and then angled herself ever so slightly so she wasn't looking at him. _I wonder if she is embarrassed._ Sensing Tsukuda stiffen up, Tada subtly shook his head when she silently asked him a question.

"It's her! She's one of the people who got Haruka-Chan excluded and in here, and now she's just swanning in here and trying to taunt her all over again."

"Oh for flip's sake!" Aida said. "Kid, you've got the wrong end of the stick. I'm not interested in causing drama, or sticking around for long. Once I get my grades up, I'm out of here. No offence."

This last bit was directed at Tada, and though he wondered why it was him specifically, he nodded and took the comment in the way it was intended. He then decided to try and smooth things out so that at the very least, Hirigi wasn't like a firecracker for the entire morning.

"Hirigi-kun, what exactly happened? Like the actual events, I mean?"

"I…well…nothing happened, as such. Like, Aida was in front of me, and Haruka-Chan was with Kinomoto-kun, doing the hanging baskets and whatever, and then she stopped in front of them. And Haruka-Chan looked up and just went really pale, like, her blood just drained. And her mouth just went in this sort of line." Hirigi demonstrated momentarily before continuing. "And it sort of reminded me of…well…last year."

"You were there?" Tada couldn't prevent the words coming out, and regretted it when Hirigi's shoulders hunched and he looked at the ground.

"Now, see, I don't know why you're so het-up about me if you're the same." Aida commented caustically, a bored air about her. Hirigi flared up at that, eyes sparking as they fixed on her once again.

"At least I feel _bad_ about it, and tried to make amends!"

Aida seemed to have nothing to say to that, but she came back with another response.

"Well, I wasn't trying to provoke her or anything, you know? Why would I? I learnt from the last lesson too. I just wanted to make her know that Yakuza or otherwise, she can't scare m-"

"Enough, Aida." Tsukuda stepped in at that point, slicing the air with her hand to make Aida stop. Her expression was frosty, and it made Aida stop and gulp. "Don't approach Haru like she's some sort of hitman. She's a person. Our classmate. Our friend. "

"Are you _serious_?"

"Aida-Chan, we're a class, we try to treat each other respectfully. You want to get back to the main campus as soon as possible, and that's fine, but while you're here, you need to respect how we work here. So like Hanae said, please don't act like that anymore. You don't actually need to."

Aida shrugged heavily.

"I can get behind that." She said. "But I'm hardly going to be all lovey-dovey."

Tada couldn't help but chuckle at that. Aida smiled back, and Hirigi just rolled his eyes.

"Nobody said anything about lovey-doveyness. " Hirigi snapped, but he wasn't too caustic about it, and just went past them into the classroom. Aida followed suit, and after looking at each other, Tada and Tsukuda shrugged before also returning. As it turned out quite a few more of them had arrived, Tsukuda went over to chat with Hana, who was (unsurprisingly) with Izzy and Kuroba, and Tada went over to his desk to read a book for a while. When Eriko came over, along with Hidaka, Koujiro, Ayako and Kaori, he put his book down and chatted to them for a while, and then Ichijou came in, followed closely by the final few members of the class, as well as Haru and Kinomoto, who had been outside the entire time.

"Oh, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you all about Hidaka-kun and Aida-san joining the class! I myself only found out last night, and I didn't get a chance to contact you all. Still, you'll all get along fine, won't you?"

"It's fine, Ichijou-sensei." Eriko spoke for them. Tada nodded, feeling some sense of relief. _At least she didn't forget this time around._ Ichijou beamed at them, as guileless as ever.

"Well then, that's good. Have you two managed to find seats?" she asked, referring to Hidaka and Aida. When they both confirmed that they had, then Ichijou nodded and beamed again.

"Okay then, let's start the day, alright, children?" she went behind her desk, and the students who were still standing or milling around went to their seats. Not really looking at anything in particular, Tada happened to notice Hidaka continue to try and sneak glances at Reimiya, which he found somewhat adorable. But then, Yukiyama walked past Hidaka to get to his own seat, and all of a sudden, there was that flash in his parchment eyes, something hot and hateful. But it was also fleeting, as it was gone as soon as it had appeared. Yukiyama hadn't seemed to notice, but Tada found himself a little bit chilled. _What was that look? I saw it before, earlier, when we were talking about this being 3E._

"Hey, Tada, what's wrong?" Tsukuda whispered as the register began. Tada turned back to her and shook his head.

"It's nothing, really." He reassured before turning back to face the front so they didn't get caught talking through the register. _I'm sure I just imagined it._

 **…**

When Asami came back into the classroom after eating her lunch, she found that Hiro was sitting on her own, poring through the pages of the textbook that accompanied their syllabus for the second term. _She's reading ahead. I like. But maybe that means I shouldn't disturb her?_ But just as soon as the thought came, she shook it away. She had something important to say, and so she would say it. An opportunity like this, where Otsuka, Hasegawa and the other sniggering virtuosos weren't around was not one she would waste. After all, she didn't want them to hear what she had to say.

 _Argh, but dammit, I'm nervous._ The last time she'd talked to Hiro was when she'd bumped into her at the school festival and given her and Yukiyama the candy floss. That had just been small talk, but there were still important things that needed to be said, to be cleared up. _And I refuse to shirk away from that duty. I refuse._

"Chihiro-Chan, you reading ahead for the next lesson already?" she said, keeping her voice light as she came around to the front of Hiro's desk, and perched on the empty one in front of it to face her. Hiro looked up, blinked, and then fiddled with her hair a bit before answering.

"Actually…I didn't really understand the lesson this morning, so I decided to see if the book could shed some light."

"I see, I see. We could go through it together if you wanted to?" Asami checked the front cover of the book- Social Studies. She wasn't the best at it, but she was nowhere near shabby, so she could always try. But Hiro declined.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." Hiro said, and looked back down at the page, as if dismissing Asami. She took in a deep breath, and balled up her fists. _I have to do this._

"I know."

"Huh?" Hiro looked up and wrinkled her forehead. "What did you say?"

Asami could have screamed at the obliqueness, but she knew that it was probably a genuine question on Hiro's part.

"I said that I know. About Ending the End Class." She leaned in a tiny bit closer and lowered her voice so that others couldn't hear the last sentence. Not that she was entirely sure why it was she was doing that.

Hiro's pretty eyes widened in shock, and she closed the book so she could properly regard Asami.

"Y-You do? But how?"

"I just do, okay?!" Asami did _not_ want to go over that. Cowardly, but she didn't want to risk this new equilibrium. _It makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but still._

"Okay, okay." Hiro held out a hand as if to ward her off. "Okay. So…..?"

"So, well. I can't really get behind the fact you're allowing your brother to be so reckless and things, particularly since Hana's pretty invested in this too…..but…..well….did you know my own brother was in 3E, once?"

It was hard for Asami to say this out loud, as though saying the words would taint her, or curse her, as if the mere fact hadn't already. It made all the images and echoes of dead-eyed Kei and his now monotone voice flash up in her mind. She fully expected Hiro to ask her about Kei, to register surprise at the existence of another sibling, but she returned with something completely different.

"Mama, too. My mother, I mean to say. Thirty years ago. And your brother? "

"Three. Kei was in that class three years ago."

"Oh, so you don't call him 'Nii-Chan' or anything like that?"

 _That's the big question?_ But Asami couldn't help but laugh.

"We've never really been that sort of family." _But, Hana calls him Onii-san now, where before, he was her Kei-Chan._

"Still, I'm guessing this means you understand something." Hiro returned to the point at hand as she searched Asami's face. Asami waited, and tried not to feel like she was crawling out of her skin in the time it took for Hiro to apparently come to some silent conclusion and lean back.

"Yeah, I suppose…" Asami tried to find the right words, for she knew her changed feelings were still not the ones that would be wanted. _Oh, but that would be their problem now, wouldn't it?!_

"You know, just because Kunugigaoka has this system, it doesn't mean it's all defunct, you know? I hate…I hate what 3E has done to Kei, what it lowers people down to. But that's just one aspect to things. So I can't help but think that Tada's being rather reckless in all this."

She was not just motivated by self-interest in saying this. Truth was, after sampling some of the tangible evidence of the project, she found herself concerned. And, rather oddly, this was not just for Hana, but for all of them. Knowing what it was that class did, she'd found herself replaying that one assembly in her head, over and over.

" _If there is an altercation or any sort of incident where a 3E member is involved, the issue will be solved based upon the testimony of the main campus student, regardless of the incident, and 3E will be appropriately sanctioned. The only exception to this is if an independent witness, one who is not a member of 3E and therefore has no interest in letting them get away with things, is accurately able to vouch for them. If there is no such witness, then any ambiguity will be taken to assume it is the main campus student who is in the right."_

She'd now come to realise that they were indeed right, that there was something to be scared of in that. But that still raised the question of why on earth 3E were willing to risk it. Did they have a death wish or something? It was something that Asami was curious to know.

"I'm Tada's sister, not his master," was the laughing response of Hiro, half-wry, half-cold. "Though I can relate to what you're probably thinking. That being said….Asami, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree."

"I thought as much." Asami conceded.

" _I'm an_ asset _, Asami!"_ _Hiro snapped out suddenly._

Asami had not forgotten that, either. And Hiro obviously hadn't. She gave a grim nod, before gentling again, and smiling. Asami smiled back at her, relieved, for she felt at this point that things were about as good between them as they'd get at this point. She'd improve on things later, there was no two ways about it, but here was a good stopping point for now.

"Well, I don't want to hold you back from studying. " Asami hopped off the desk, and straightened her skirt and blazer. "But still, you know, if people are troubling you about things like…erm, Yukiyama-kun, or even your brother, I'll try and sort it out. "

"Yeah, yeah, got it, Class Rep." Hiro joked. Asami, in the spirit of said joke, saluted her cheerily before walking over to her own desk and sitting down. Deciding to copy Hiro, and perhaps set a good example in the process, Asami searched for her own books, and looked for a piece of homework she could realistically complete at school (and therefore save time). Once she had found some, she set it in front of her, and scrutinised the questions carefully so that she could begin.

 **…**

When the school day ended, Kuroba found himself quietly and carefully spying on Hidaka. There was something about the new boy that he just did not like. He could not for the life for him say what it was though, and indeed, on the surface, it seemed ridiculous. The boy was one of those pretty types, not to mention shy, retiring, and possessing an awful stammer to boot. He'd spent the day trying to get to know everyone despite his own afflictions and had earned the affections of Ichijou, and he generally seemed like a good sort of person. Kuroba had also noticed that Hidaka was somewhat smitten with Reimiya, a fact inexplicable to him, but since he wasn't Reno that wasn't anything for him to worry about. Aida, on the other hand, struck him as a feisty girl with a strong sense of who she wanted to be and where she wanted to go, underlined by a serious attitude problem. And as she'd managed to get the backs of certain people up already, Kuroba figured that if there was anyone to be concerned about, it should be her.

But no. When he thought about it, Aida didn't bother him at all. Whatever her problems, she was solid. It was Hidaka that was making all his alarms ring incessantly, and he could not understand it, not even a little. _And that is most troubling._

"Ju-kun, are you coming?"

Kuroba blinked at Hana, who was standing next to the desk his brother was perched on, looking almost mournful. He was used to this lost demeanour of Hana's, but he still didn't get it, so he just rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Of course I'm coming." He swung his bag onto his shoulder and strode out, and Izzy and Hana followed. Hidaka was in front of them, under the care of Eriko and Kaori, with Tada and Tsukuda slightly ahead, assisting Fuyumi as always. Kuroba studied the way Hidaka's brow furrowed as he listened to Eriko, but also the way he turned constantly, subtle but still noticeable from Kuroba's point of view. There was something restless and anxious about the way Hidaka was doing this, and this just deepened Kuroba's suspicions.

 _It is as if he is trying to take everything in, everything that's being said, but why? Everyone's talking about different things._ On his part, while watching Hidaka, Kuroba was discussing the mystery surrounding the Yanagisawa murder, because Izzy had been hooked onto that aspect of what could be an important part of 3E's history, and as such had come up with some new theories worth investigating. Hana also had some interesting things to say relating to this (as, he'd noticed, she tended to do), which he quite happily debated with her. But he still kept an eye on Hidaka, hoping that something would clear, and he'd understand what it was he did not like about him.

When they neared the bottom, Hiro was waiting for Tada and Yukiyama, as was customary, and smiled and nodded to greet the rest of them cheerfully. But this cheer froze when she spotted Hidaka coming down.

"Hidaka-kun? Since when were you in 3E?" she inquired. _Surprised,_ Kuroba surmised. _She is surprised that he is here. And….a little embarrassed? Well, Hidaka is, that's for sure._

"I-I-I…erm-I, that E-English exam." Hidaka spluttered out, tomato-red.

"Ah, the end of term one, right? That was a fiendish one. "Hiro acknowledged, and then she went a little pink herself as she focused on a figure coming down the hill. "Saito."

Kuroba rolled his eyes, and turned in preparation to separate from everyone else (apart from Izzy and Hana) when they reached the bottom, but he happened to notice Hidaka turn to notice Yukiyama…and suddenly, what he must have been looking for was there. Flashing, in those parchment-hued eyes, was something Kuroba easily recognised as hate. The pure, toxic kind. _There, there it is._

"Good afternoon, Hiro-san!" Hana unexpectedly greeted Hiro as they hit the bottom. Kuroba reoriented without blinking, though he was a little taken aback.

"Hello there, Hana. And Kuroba-kun and Arisato-kun too."

Izzy grinned at her, and Kuroba just nodded a greeting, before departing. Before they turned away completely, he tried to get one last look at Hidaka. The flash had gone, and all that was there was the awkward boy, stammering and blushing profusely before squeaking out his goodbyes and rushing off as fast as his skinny legs could take him. With brown shoes, and the black school vest but no blazer, Hidaka did not look like a threat at all. Kuroba shrugged absently, and started walking with Izzy and Hana, picking up the conversation where it had stopped, giving no indication that he was thinking what he was thinking. As much as he trusted Izzy (and Hana, too, he had to concede that), he did not think he could reveal his suspicions, not until he knew what he was potentially dealing with.

 _In any case, why I am I so het-up? What threat could one 14 or 15 year old pose?_ But he knew that the question was a stupid one. After all, their class existed. Kuroba glanced over his shoulder one last time, though Hidaka was long out of sight. _It's pointless to brood on it now, so put it aside._ And so, that was exactly what he did. But he wouldn't keep it that way, because he'd be damned if he was going to let anything affect the way things were, particularly where he and his brother were concerned.

"So, "he proposed to them. "Does this mean we're going to have to take another trip to the library?"

"Seems like it." Izzy shrugged cheekily. Hana giggled at the mock-dark look Kuroba threw at Izzy.

"Why don't we go now? Then we save the weekend for going to the town hall archives." she suggested. Kuroba considered this, and shrugged.

"Sounds good to me."


	41. Unexpected Turns

**This wasn't meant to be an early update, but since I am going away this weekend, that would have meant that you'd wait a full fortnight before getting this. So, since I was making reasonable progress on this with my normal writing rate, I decided to basically go turbo and make sure to get this to you now, so that it would only take something like 10 days between this update and the next. So, I managed to finish the chapter tonight and here it is! Please do enjoy :) :) and of course, leave feedback please.**

 **Note: Hidaka's ringtone is a song by the doujin circle Pizuya's Cell. I used to love them, especially all their Claire de Lune and Merciless Lazuli Rose period stuff. Not so much the new things, but I digress.**

* * *

Hidaka's phone started to ring almost as soon as he'd separated from the members of his new class. Even before he'd pulled his phone out and halted the notes of 'Worldly Flower' by answering, he knew who it would be. _I need to make it clear that I can do this…_

"H-Hello." He didn't say Hasegawa's name, or even the term 'President'. Those were some of the terms agreed, when Hasegawa and Otsuka had told him what he needed to do in order to help facilitate his return back to the fold. He also didn't have Hasegawa's name in the contact, either.

"Good afternoon. How are you?" Hasegawa said, smooth and mild. Hidaka recalled that he'd sounded exactly the same on that day, as if nothing was too much of a problem for him. _Though that doesn't make sense, does it?_

"I-I-I'm f-fine, thank you." Hidaka looked around him nervously as he walked to the train station. Luckily, none of the other 3E members were around, and although he knew some main campusers from the school walked in the same direction (with some of them even taking the same train as him), they didn't seem to be there either. _Or I just can't see them. Perhaps they're waiting in the hidden corners of this town, waiting for me. No, wait, that's paranoid, no?_

"So, tell me about your first day. How did it go?" Hasegawa suggested, as if referring to nothing more than a transfer. Hidaka stiffened up, and his hold on his mobile tightened almost painfully. This was where it began, really.

"T-Th-They treated me w-w-well. T-They all ex-explained t-the c-c-class rules t-to me, and the t-time-t-t-table and that. T-T-Tada-kun was really k-kind too, I-I think he was w-w-worried for me. I-It a-also s-struck m-me that t-t-they are protective of each other, too. T-Tsu-Tsukuda-san t-takes h-her responsibilities i-in that regard….seriously, I-I-I'd say. H-Honourable. N-N-Nobody e-explained t-the 'E-Ending the End Class' t-to me, n-not explicit….directly, even. B-B-Bu-ut I-I-I overheard T-Tada-kun say th-that i-it w-was because h-he did-didn't w-want t-to over-overwhelm us."

Hidaka stopped to gulp a large breath, then he held it, anxious. _Get a grip, Rikio!_ On the other side, Hasegawa chuckled. Hidaka took out his pass to get through the train ticket barriers, and randomly observed that wherever Hasegawa was happened to be deadly silent, whereas he was surrounded by the noises of commuting. He wondered where the Student Council President was, for there to be such a marked contrast. It somehow underlined the big role he had even more. _And it is big. Big enough for me to be accepted, and included again._

"Interesting observations so far, Hidaka-kun," Hasegawa's approval was like air to Hidaka, sweet, vital air. "But, surely you have a little more? I would not expect you to have the inside track on everything they are doing, but I'd like to know that I wasn't mistaken in thinking you'd be a good inside man."

"O-Oh, N-No, I-I w-won't disappoint!" Hidaka caught himself from saying 'President' just in time.

"W-Well….I-I t-t-think it is A-Ayako T-Takashita-san, wh-who t-takes charge of t-the blog, and Izaya A-Arisato-k-kun h-helps, t-though, f-f-from t-t-the w-w-way t-they talk about it, I-I think he is mostly the tech-technic-cal side, w-whilst T-Takashita-s-san i-i-is t-t-the c-co-content m-manager, a-as it w-were. S-S-she w-writes t-the p-posts and t-takes pictures and d-deals w-with the admin stuff f-for the blog. B-But f-f-for admin, I-I-I t-t-think Fuyumi Y-Yukimura-san is-is the m-main go-to girl. She sorts th-things out, k-k-keeps their n-notes a-and re-reminds them all of what t-they n-need to do. A-At l-lunchtime, I-I had t-to g-get T-Takashita-s-san to g-go t-to h-her f-for a reminder of some…. sort of something t-that I'm fairly s-sure of b-being t-to do with the project. A-And s-she's rehabilitating herself well, according to the others. S-S-she st-still needs to g-get carried u-up and down t-the hill, b-but she w-walks a-around th-the c-class with crutches. "

As Hidaka paused to get on the train, he berated himself for mentioning that. What relevance to the Ending the End Class project did something like that even have? But Hasegawa didn't seem bothered, instead prompting him with a query about if there was anything else. Hidaka took a seat on the train and stared cautiously out of the window before picking up where he'd left off.

"W-Well, I-I-I t-think that K-Kinomoto-kun, I-Ichinose-san a-and T-Tsuwabuki-kun are officially i-in charge of the c-class flowers, a-and th-they're fairly mag-magnificicent, y-you know?" _Better than the main campus,_ but Hidaka shoved that thought far away. "A-And A-Aida-s-san is…well, un-un-uninterested in th-the c-class g-goings o-on, s-so, I-I think your c-concerns a-about h-her cottoning o-on will-will be unfounded. S-She i-is s-studying t-to g-get back. As am I, n-naturally! But, m-mostly, a-as y-you s-say, t-the first day is too s-soon t-to make any real observations. A-All I-I can co-conclude is-is th-they are c-collectively r-rather tight-knit, a-a-and t-t-that d-despite th-their cir-circumstances, t-they a-are some-somehow not dis-h-h-heartened..."

 _And that Reimiya-san has the prettiest eyes._ This, for some reason, kept circling back in his mind. Seeing Yukiyama in person had been a punch in the gut, and it was all he could do to not sneer the aloof boy down. Kuroba terrified the guts out of him, as did Ruko, for completely different reasons, and like apparently everyone else did, he'd taken a liking to Hana, but it was Reimiya's eyes that he could not stop thinking of. He'd never seen anything like that. But those wouldn't tell Hasegawa anything about the Ending the End Class project that needed to be taken down. And in any case, he did not want to tell Hasegawa about such things anyway. _It has no relevance._

"That will do for now." Hasegawa said, evidently realising Hidaka would not say any more. "So I will leave you for now. Do you remember what the procedure from here on in will be?"

"S-Starting from n-next week, y-y-you will be ch-ch-checking in w-with me after s-s-school twice a week, once at the b-beginning of the week, once at the end. It-It-It will either be y-you, her or hi-him." He recited, referring to Otsuka and Otonashi, the 3A Male Class Representative and another Virtuoso. "A-Ah, i-if i-it is no-not too im-impudent, may I ask s-something?"

"Go ahead."

"W-W-Why isn't s-she o-one of-of my contacts?" he hoped that Hasegawa would understand he was referring to the Female Class Representative, Asami Aoshima.

"Oh, as it happens, she is not aware of the existence of the project nor that we are taking steps to stop it. It is probably for the better, given her conflict of interest."

"I-I-I see." _So, Hana Aoshima is her sister. That….that doesn't make sense then, that she doesn't know, and it doesn't make sense that she isn't involved. Weird. But best not to ask. He knows what is happening._ "A-Ah, a-and t-the res-rest of the pro-procedure i-is t-that i-if-if I discover any-anything tha-that's too much of a di-discovery to w-wait for the n-next st-standard c-check i-in, I w-will p-phone as-as s-soon a-as possible, l-leaving a-a me-message."

"Very good. Make sure you keep to those, and you will be where you want to be in no time." Hasegawa sounded impressed, and Hidaka could not help but let out a big sigh of relief. "Well then, until the next check in."

"Goodbye." When Hasegawa hung up, Hidaka put his hand in his lap, still gripping painfully to the mobile phone. He stared dully at his home screen for a moment, then returned his eyes to the window, watching the scenery go by. _My stop will be soon,_ he thought, _best make sure I don't miss it._

 **…**

"Ah, it looks like it's going to be a wet lunchtime." Ichijou observed needlessly when the lesson ended. "It's a shame, you can't enjoy the outdoors. "

"Yes, it is." Kinomoto butted in absently. "It's lovely around here."

"Not so much if your legs are going to be caked in mud." Ruko snarked in response.

"But anyway," Ichijou, as per usual, ignored the spat. "Since I know it won't be nice to be cooped up in here, if you want, you can use the home economics room to eat lunch. And as usual, I will be in the staffroom if anyone needs me, allright?"

"Yes, sensei!" they chorused as Ichijou bumbled away. Tada leaned back and smiled. _Ichijou-sensei really is quite flexible. She isn't anything like I'd imagine Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei were to Mum, but I'm grateful anyway._

Once Ichijou left, Kitabayashi left immediately, presumably deciding to take advantage of the quiet of the home economics room. Tsuwabuki decided to do so too, and so Haru, Hirigi and Kinomoto accompanied him. Akira and Reimiya also headed to the Home Economics room, but for some reason, Reno did not follow them. Most probably he was satisfied that Reimiya would be fine with Akira, for he seemed calm as he just sat down and began swiping at his phone. Even more surprisingly, Yukiyama didn't take the opportunity to be around less of them, and just remained in his corner of the room, taking out his bento and beginning to methodically plough through the food. Tada thought of beckoning him over, then shrugged and decided to leave it be. If Yukiyama wanted to join them, he would.

"Hey, Aya-Chan, we're going to chill over in the Home Ec room, you coming?" Tada saw Ruko saunter over to Ayako's seat, Aida close behind.

"Yeah, but not now," Ayako reached for her laptop bag and pulled out her laptop, setting it on the desk, opening and switching it on. "I didn't get a chance to check on the blog this morning."

"You need to get a better grip on your punctuality, you know, Takashita." Aida said, but not unkindly, for she seemed amused.

"Okay, fine, but hurry up, okay?" Ruko said, pulling a mock-exasperated face as she did so.

"Yeah, yeah." Ayako laughed, not even looking at her two classmates, too busy focusing on what she was doing. Tada shook his head to himself, chuckling silently. Aida caught the gesture and met his eyes across the classroom. Tada froze momentarily, not sure what measure he had of her (or vice versa), but the plump girl just shrugged, then left the class with Ruko, talking to her about something that Tada didn't quite comprehend but which sounded fairly girly and hysterical. Ayako's tapping away blended with the sounds of the rain outside and punctuated the classroom.

"Uhh, Yamada-Chan, what are you doing?" Tada noticed the way the smaller girl was mooning at the window mournfully, kneeling in her chair. She turned and stared at Tada, looking all the world like a lost puppy.

"The moon's covered." She gestured to the window sadly. Tada sweat-dropped.

"That's because it's raining, and there are clouds in the sky…."

"Oh, really?" Yamada looked extremely surprised at this, and blinked at Tada once, causing him to sigh internally once again. Yamada didn't seem bothered, and just shrugged.

"Oh well, I'll just read my book." She decided resignedly, sitting down and proceeding to do just that. _Did that just happen?_

"So, are we going to continue pulling together the 'What's Next?' Manifesto?" Eriko walked over and asked as Tada shook the confusion off Yamada away and pushed together his and Tsukuda's table for them to gather around. Kaori was, unsurprisingly, behind her.

"Yeah, we are. May as well, since it is raining and all," Tada said. "Fuyumi-Chan, you don't mind, right?"

"No, no, it's okay." Fuyumi said, already hobbling over to them, somehow managing to hold onto the file folder and the crutches without dropping either. Jori let out a huff and tugged the file folder from her.

"Jori-san, it's okay, really. If you wanted to go sit and enjoy your lunch, maybe in the other room, I can manage."

"Don't be a goddamned idiot." Jori rolled her eyes. Fuyumi smiled softly like that, the edges of her light brown eyes creasing in appreciation. Tsukuda snagged a chair for her, and Fuyumi gratefully eased herself down in it before retrieving the file folder from Jori, who plopped down on a chair beside her. Eriko, Kaori, Koujiro and Tsukuda also gathered around and sat down as Tada went to get his own bits and pieces.

"Hidaka-san, are you all right?" Eriko asked. Tada wheeled around and noticed that Hidaka was sitting at his desk, but looking as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to get up and go or not, playing restlessly with the lid of his wooden bento box.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm all right." He said, blinking. Tada took pity.

"Come and sit with us, yeah? Eriko-Chan, Hanae, that's okay, isn't it?"

"Sure it is!" Tsukuda agreed instantly. Eriko nodded.

"I think that's a good idea." She decided. "How about it, Hidaka-san? You probably won't be able to follow it all, but it's something, right?"

"Y-Ye-eah. Thank you." Wide eyed and seemingly almost dazed, Hidaka got up, picked up his chair, and then went over. Koujiro scooted over so that there was space between himself and Jori. Hidaka nodded gratefully and put down the chair before quickly scooting back for his bento box and then sitting down. Tada was the final one to sit down, and then they spread out the papers to pore over them and discuss.

"The last point we stopped at was possible suggestions for this building." Fuyumi quickly managed to give a starting point to their meeting. Eriko nodded to convey their gratitude.

"They'll probably want to tear it down, won't they?" Eriko wondered. "I mean, wasn't the whole purpose of this building to house the likes of us?"

"Actually, that's not right." Tada corrected.

"It isn't?" Koujiro was surprised. "I kinda thought that was the case."

"No, no, this building was actually the original Kunugigaoka, a long, long time ago. I can't really remember much in relation to that, but it was some kind of cram school for sixth-graders taking entrance exams, not an actual full-blown middle school."

"I don't suppose this was run by Gakuho Asano, was it?" Jori asked, clearly assuming that it couldn't have been.

"Yes, it was." Kaori answered before Tada could say the same thing. When he stared at her, she shrugged.

"I read a little, the history is rather interesting, no?"

"Yeah, that's true."

"I can't believe that!" Tsukuda was astonished. "I mean, would he really inflict such pain on _elementary schoolers_? That's just…I don't even know."

"Well, we've already established that he was the spawn of Satan, no?" Koujiro quipped.

"Actually, from what I read, it seems that he was actually rather….well, human. Does that sound about right, Tada-san?" Kaori asked.

"Yeah, more or less. But I think something tipped him over the edge, because then he suddenly seemed to switch, and acquired lots of money to build Kunugigaoka. It opened 40 years ago to take in a new intake of first-year middle schoolers. It had the same rules that it always had now, but given that the school only had first-years when it opened, the real first 3E was only 38 years ago."

"And now, we are here." Fuyumi concluded pensively. Everyone nodded soberly at this.

"But anyway, that doesn't really help us in regards to what we should propose gets done to the building, does it?" Eriko mused.

"No, it doesn't." Tsukuda said. "But what could we do about it? It isn't really in a convenient place for the school to use anyway….as they fully well know! Bastards."

"Easy, Hanae." Tada murmured into her ear. She turned and nodded. _It's okay,_ she conveyed.

"It could be used by clubs, couldn't it?" Jori said. "Like, I don't know, the planty sort of clubs or whatever. And the grassy fields could be used by things like the cricket club and tennis club or athletics….I'm just talking out of my ass here, aren't I?"

"No, no, that makes sense to me, Jori-Chan." Tada reassured. "That sounds like a good idea. If the building was renovated, then it could also be used for like, overnight club training sessions and trips. It's enough of a distance that it would be like a trip, but not so much that it's too much of an inconvenience for people."

"I think that makes sense." Eriko agreed.

"A-A-Astronomy C-Club. T-T-They might want t-to u-use this s-space, right?" Hidaka hesitantly proposed.

"Yeah, I'd imagine so!" Tada agreed, aiming for encouraging. "Like, we're high up, on a mountain and all, so the views would be great on a clear night."

"Were you a member of the astronomy club by any chance, Hidaka?" Tsukuda asked, as she fished in her pocket for something. Hidaka shook his head, almost fearfully.

"N-No. W-Woodworking." Hidaka said.

"Ehhh, that's quite interesting." Fuyumi asked, regarding Hidaka curiously. He nodded.

Tsukuda found what she was looking for in her pocket and pulled it out-a small round lip balm tin, which she promptly opened, before getting a little on her finger to apply to her lips carefully, thoughtfully watching as Fuyumi and Kaori coaxed a few words about Hidaka's time in the woodworking club. Looking at Tsukuda, Tada found himself drawn to the way she was applying the lipbalm, and then he was taken back to the night of the summer festival, when it had been just the two of them, waiting for the fireworks. His fingers fluttered a little.

 _Argh, Tada, get a grip on things!_ Sucking in a breath, he promptly sat on his hands, flustered.

"Uhhh…Tada-san?"

 _Ah wonderful, they all noticed._

"I-I-erm, nothing, it's fine." He said, hurriedly, wanting to bury the embarrassment as deep as possible.

"Tada, you weirdo." Tsukuda laughed. It wasn't clear whether she had any idea of what he'd been thinking of, but thankfully, she had put the lipbalm tin away. Tada released his hands and placed them back on the table, very self-conscious about it all. He cleared his throat once, decisively.

"So, I suppose we can put 'renovation for the purposes of club use' as a possible outcome?" he tipped his head at Fuyumi, who obligingly sorted through her file folder to get the relevant sheet and scribble this down. Tada himself also made notes, showing the sheet to Eriko and Tsukuda to make sure they were happy with what he'd written.

"That's going to cost a fair bit though, the renovations, especially since we'll have to make a lot of changes to make the rooms appropriate for the overnight stay portions of this. Where will we get the money from?" Jori asked, peering at Fuyumi's notes.

"That, should it be necessary, will be something I can take care of." Kuroba interjected from where he was playing Shogi with Izzy, Hana naturally sitting there as an entranced onlooker. Tada blinked, surprised, and more than a few jaws fell open.

"Well." Eriko, their resident stoic, was the first to recover. "Let's note that, too-thank you, Kuroba-san-, but let's not have it as our only option. What else can we do that won't stretch the pockets of well, the average middle schooler?"

"Uhh….?"

It took only a few seconds for it to become evidently clear that they didn't have any other ideas. _Well, that helps._ Tada wasn't sure why, but he felt that the fate of the 3E building was something significant to consider, that it should be so.

"W-Well, "Tsukuda stepped in, reading him perfectly. "I suppose we can just bump it farther down the list for now and focus on something else for now? How about it?"

"There _are_ other things we need to consider, if we're going to have a full manifesto to bolster our cause." Eriko agreed.

"So then, how about we-"Fuyumi was interrupted by a sudden ecstatic squeal from Ayako. They all swivelled around to gawp at Ayako, who was staring at her computer screen, her eyes having gone saucer-wide as she looked at something on the screen. She tore her gaze away and looked at them, still saucer-wide.

"The Kunugi Daybreak wants to interview us for one of their columns!" She all but squealed. They all just continued gawping at her.

"The…Kunugi Daybreak? That's the local paper for this area, right?" Tada asked, checking. Ayako nodded vehemently.

"And, they want to _interview_ us! Well, one of the reporters, anyway. Obviously, the _entire paper_ didn't email me." Ayako laughed, almost a little hysterical. Tada looked at Tsukuda, and they both shrugged. Then, Tada got up and crossed over to Ayako.

"Let's have a look then."

The others followed to cluster around Ayako's desk, and even Kuroba, Izzy, Hana and Reno came too. Only Yukiyama and Yamada didn't bother, though Yamada did look up and blink confusedly a few times at them all.

"Developed interest in project….relevance to young people….part of weekend edition feature….good publicity opportunity…" Eriko read selected phrases of the email that Ayako had open. "So, the journalist's name is Arata Maki-san? "

"Ah, I know that name!" Tsukuda exclaimed. "Well, kinda. He generally writes some of the articles in the Kunugi Daybreak, but every weekend there's this feature called 'In Focus' or something like that?"

"Saturday Spotlight. It's called Saturday Spotlight." Ayako corrected, relishing the English wording. Tada grinned wryly.

"That's the one!" Jori said. "I think I might have met him before, actually. One spotlight donkey's years ago was about gymnastics, and he came to the team that I practise with out of school. I was one of the younger ones by a fair bit, so he didn't really chat with me but yeah, yeah, I do think it was Maki-san."

"Holy smokes! You r-really a-are g-going to be in-interviewed by t-the pap-per." Hidaka exclaimed.

"So Maki wants Ending the End Class to be the focus of this Saturday's 'Spotlight'. That's a rush, today's Friday, after all. That makes no sense whatsoever." Kuroba objected.

"Actually, no, I'd imagine that he would interview us this weekend in order to include it in next Saturday's." Fuyumi suggested. Kuroba sniffed a little, but didn't react to the correction. Izzy, however, had a knowing grin as he patted Kuroba's head in a way that would have probably gotten any of the rest of them eaten had they attempted to do so.

"That certainly does look about the size of it." Tada agreed.

"Are you going to do it, then?" Reno asked. They thought about it, the room becoming heavy with their concentration.

"It would be good publicity, as he says in there." Kaori piped up eventually.

"Yup, and publicity is sure what we need right now!" Koujiro said. Then, he sneezed and wrinkled his nose, confused, before digging for a tissue.

"That would be true….we need something to kick things up a bit. Or get it out in the open. Kou-kun's school newsletter back then was a start, so maybe I reckon it's time to aim bigger." Tada said.

"But we should be careful about it, right?" Eriko said. "We don't want to be left marooned, as it were. Perhaps we should ask Isogai-san and the others for help? Maybe they could come with us? I'm going to be talking with Kataoka-san on Skype anyway, so I can always ask her then."

"If we wait, we would get delayed though!" Tsukuda said, "Surely the best thing to do is go in there fast and soon?!"

"It's better to be careful though. Especially considering the way things stand for us." Reno stated, simply.

"Can't argue with that one." Fuyumi sighed sadly.

"A-Ah, t-the r-rule, right?" Hidaka said uncertainly, looking at all their sober faces. Tada nodded. It occurred to him that neither Hidaka nor Aida actually knew about the support they were getting in the form of Isogai, Maehara and Megu. _I'll let them know soon, but first let's deal with this…_

"Well, we could go ahead with it, but ask them for advice on how to procee-"

"Tsukuda-Chan, isn't your aunt a lawyer?!" Koujiro burst out randomly, startling them. He grinned triumphantly at them, his bright eyes creasing at the edges as he scrambled to explain.

"Like, well, going to a newspaper and telling them big contro things like this school, surely there are like, legal things to deal with and maybe a lawyer is going to be better equipped to deal with that. Surely this kind of thing is what we got Tsukuda-Chan's aunt and Tada-kun's….erm…who is she to you again?"

"Family friend, but I call her 'Aunt'." Tada thought of questioning Koujiro's 'contro' but guessed that it was his atrocious abbreviation of the word 'controversial' and decided to leave it.

"Right, yeah, her. You guys went to them to keep the recording safe and all, and for advice onto how to deal with that-which-should-not-be-named." Koujiro visibly shivered at the mention of the rule, and Tada didn't blame him. Tsukuda stiffened beside him, and Tada subtly touched the back of her hand to reorient her.

"I can call her, she's free this Saturday anyway, as it happens." She said, recovering. "Then she can meet us outside the Kunugi Daybreak offices…which one of us are going to go anyway?"

"Obviously it will be you three, right?" Ayako grinned. "Because you're the reps and all."

"Well, yeah, but we can't take all the glory, it's a whole class thing after all." Tada objected.

"Ah, but surely the point of your role is to be the face of things? "

"Shit on a stick, Azama-kun, when did you get there?!" Tada jumped. The others around him looked just as startled by the enigmatic boy's sudden appearance.

"I heard Takashita squeal and came back to see what was up. I've been standing here the whole time." Azama gestured at the doorway he was standing in. "But in any case, I will take my leave, and let you come to your own conclusions."

"I-I s-somehow g-get the feeling that he's a-always like that?" Hidaka hesitantly said after Azama had indeed left. Tsukuda nodded.

"You got _that_ right."

"But anyway, about who should go. " Eriko got them back on track. "It would be a bit silly if so many of us went, especially as this is the first interview. I guess it would make more sense for just the three of us to go, with Hanae-san's aunt there for protection and guidance."

"Then, if this results in more follow-ups, more of us can go, especially to explain our particular roles in all this, like with Takashita-san or Fuyumi-san. That makes sense, right, Eri-Chan?"

"Yeah, it does. Tada-san, Hanae-san?"

"Works for me." Tsukuda shrugged. "So, is lunchtime tomorrow a good time to do this interview?"

Tada nodded at this, and Eriko did too. _Something new is beginning, this will be interesting._

"Alrighty then." Tada said, decisively. "That's decided. Ayako-Chan, could you fire off a reply on our behalf?"

"I already opened a draft. On it now!" Ayako beamed, and her fingers began to fly across the keyboard.

"Are you still going to be asking Isogai-san and Maehara-san and Kataoka-san to help you with this?"

As the others started to drift away back to their own little groups, Hana spoke up. Kuroba and Izzy gave her surprised looks, startled that she had spoken up. Tada was also surprised.

" _I…just…they're good people, I guess? I don't think it's fair if they get hurt in return for what they've been trying to do."_

"To help. They can give us pointers on what to say, what not to say, that kind of thing. We won't be exposing them or anything like that." Tada said firmly, smiling encouragingly. Hana nodded hesitantly.

"He's right, Hana. Have faith in us, okay?" Tsukuda stood in front of Hana and placed her hands on the smaller girl's shoulders, looking at her in the eyes. Eventually, Hana smiled up at her.

"Okay then. I believe you. Good luck with the interview. "She turned to Izzy and Kuroba. "Ii-kun, Ju-kun, are you going back to the game?"

"Well then, we'd better at least draw up an initial game plan, right? So that we can impress Arata Maki-san?"

"It is definitely worth being prepared." Eriko acknowledged.

"Wow, y-you r-really a-are going t-to g-get an interview." Hidaka's eyes were wide as he turned back to look at them. He looked a little ambushed, as if he'd been knocked over by all the revelations that day, but he also seemed really interested in the proceedings, almost riveted. _Unlike Aida-Chan. I wonder if we'll be able to get her interested, or at least able to see where we are coming from._

"Yeah, they are." Koujiro crowed, proud. "You just see, they'll do us proud and we'll be able to win this thing!"

Tada could not help but chuckle at this, and the two Female Class Representatives also smiled at Koujiro's encouragement.

"Thank you, guys," Tada said. "We'll certainly do our best tomorrow."

 **…**

The next day, the Saturday, Tada woke up early, even though the interview was only scheduled for that lunchtime, and changed into school uniform, as they had agreed. He had breakfast with Chika and Hiro, and told them all about the interview, though it was more to Chika he addressed this to, for he'd already chatted with Hiro about it. While they talked, Kaede wove around the table legs, meowing and rubbing herself against their legs, hoping for little titbits, but when none were forthcoming, the cat went to rest on Chika's shoes, causing a minor bit of chaos when Chika had to leave for work. Luckily, Hiro was able to coax Kaede away with a bit of catnip.

"I'm going to go visit Karasuma-sensei when you leave for the interview." Hiro told him once Chika had left and they were in the living room, half paying attention to the DVD they'd put in and half playing around with Kaede.

"That sounds good. I will go along afterwards." _And maybe Hanae will come with me…._

"Bring Tsukuda-san along, if she wants." Hiro said smartly, knowing what Tada was thinking. He grinned sheepishly and said nothing to this.

"Perhaps tomorrow, Sunday, we should go put flowers for Mum and Dad?" Tada broached. The easy mood disappeared instantly, and Hiro pursed her lips, eyes appearing to flatten. It was clear she would not explain herself. Tada sighed heavily, and he turned to look at the photograph of his mother and father that Chika had hung up in the room. It was back when they'd gotten engaged, and his mother's hair was still in short waves around her face.

"I might go for Mama's sake." Hiro said eventually. She did not meet his eyes, or look over at the photograph Tada rubbed his face.

"But…that's isn't fair. Dad's still…you know what, never mind? We may as well just continue the movie. "

"That would be better, I guess." Hiro's features softened, and she, too, sighed. Kaede meowed at them and climbed onto the sofa and across Hiro's lap as they focused on the television without broaching the topic of their parents' graves again. After that, the rest of the morning continued on uneventfully until they left the house and went their separate ways- she to Karasuma, and he to the interview.

He managed to follow the map he had printed off the night before, and when he got to the building, Tsukuda was there, tightening the blazer around her waist. _A superhero._ As Tsukuda's aunt was also there already, he reined himself in as he went over to greet them.

"Eriko's gonna be here in five." Tsukuda said once the greetings was over.

"That's good, we'll be able to start in plenty of time. What about Maki-san, does he know we're here?" Tada looked. They were not standing directly outside the Kunugi Daybreak entrance, but a few paces away. Absently, he wondered which window belonged to the office Arata Maki worked at.

"No, oops. You had better do that." Tsukuda looked abashed.

"It's cool, no problem." Tada found the newly stored number in his phone, and composed a quick message. He showed it to Tsukuda and her aunt to check it was fine, then sent it.

"So, are you nervous?" Tsukuda's aunt asked him, to pass the time.

"A…little, I guess? I'm just not sure what to expect, really."

"I have a feeling you will be more than fine." The woman reassured them. "If either side ends up going out of line, I'll be there to stop it. Getting accused of libel and defamation won't help your causes, after all. But I don't think that, for the most part, you'll even need me. "

"I don't think so…"

"Ah, don't doubt yourself, Tadaomi-kun. I may have met you once, but I'm a good judge of character. And even better where Hanae is involved. "

Tsukuda's aunt gave them a meaningful but not disapproving look, and Tada squirmed a little. Tsukuda also blushed, but then she spotted Eriko coming down the street, and waved madly to catch her attention. Eriko, when she spotted them, jogged a little faster to reach them.

"Good afternoon." She greeted. "We should go in now, no?"

"Since we're all here, yes." Tada agreed. Tsukuda's aunt agreed with that, and so Tada led the way to the entrance.

"Ah, Kitakawa-kun, Fujisaki-san, Tsukuda-san, how disappointing. You really are going to get yourselves published in the newspaper."

The three teenagers and the one adult stopped in their tracks and swivelled around swiftly. When Tada saw who it was, his jaw dropped open, and Tsukuda and Eriko were similarly surprised.

"H-Hasegawa-kun?!"


	42. The Interview

In the midst of their astonishment, Hasegawa just smiled at them triumphantly and waited, all chiselled featured and perfectly tailored clothes. Tada didn't know what to say, or even how it should be said. _How did he find out? It doesn't make sense…we only talked about things in the classroom, and then by phone or emails…._

"Hasegawa-kun, I…"

"Are those your siblings?" Eriko asked, randomly in Tada's opinion, interrupting him. But it did allow him to notice for the first time that Hasegawa was not alone. Rather, he was accompanied by two girls and a boy, all elementary school aged. The eldest girl looked about 12, the other a little younger, and the boy couldn't have been in a grade higher than first. _This is interesting. Also unhelpful. I wonder if that's the intent though._ Hasegawa raised an eyebrow at the non-sequitur, but his smile momentarily changed to a proud one as he introduced them, from eldest to youngest.

"Yes, these are my three youngest siblings. Misao, who is in sixth grade, Yui, in fourth and then Manabu, who started school this April. "

"Pleased to meet you!" the three children chorused, bowing once to them. When they straightened, the younger two fidgeted in boredom, but Misao regarded them with her wide chestnut eyes, having clearly cottoned on to the subtext of the situation. It was impossible to say what she thought though.

"I have to escort Misao to her piano lesson, and Yui and Manabu are going to tutoring, so let's not waste time. What do you think you are playing at?"

 _Tutoring? What the hell? That little boy is Kazuo-kun's age!_

"We're doing what we have to do!" Tsukuda shot back. "You can't interfere in that!"

"Actually, I can. Do you know how much of an inconvenience you are to Kunugigaoka? You are lucky that you don't all just get expelled in the first place, that you have a class to go to."

 _This guy cannot be serious. Does he believe himself, or is he deluded? Or, even better, does he just say these things for no other reason than to further his own agenda, whatever it is?_

"Unfortunately, we don't agree with that. So, if you don't mind, we should go." Eriko calmly suggested. Hasegawa sneered again.

"You could be expelled for this, you know. Are you that foolhardy?"

"So, Hasegawa-kun, you're the School Council President for Kunugigaoka, am I right?"

Clearly taken aback by Tsukuda's aunt, Hasegawa just nodded. Manabu tugged anxiously on his brother's smart-casual blazer jacket, and whispered something. Hasegawa just patted the little boy's head indulgently before turning to face them again.

"That I most certainly am. Are you accompanying these students?"

"Yes, I am. Both as an aunt, and as a lawyer. Which means I can say that there is technically nothing preventing these students from going to the newspapers about what Kunugigaoka is. I'd also point out that it is currently the weekend and as such, you do not really have any jurisdiction over them. "

"Oh?" Hasegawa raised an eyebrow at this, but did not elaborate. Likewise, Tsukuda's aunt waited, ready to refute Hasegawa, no matter what. Once again, Tada was struck by the resemblance between Tsukuda and her aunt, and he mused momentarily about the way the people around a person could shape them utterly. But he couldn't spend all his time musing, something needed to be done. However Hasegawa had found out that they'd be here would need to be dealt with later. They just needed to get him to go away, to move on, so they could get the interview done.

"Hasegawa-kun, we do have a cause that we can't back down from, you probably know that by now, so we won't _not_ do this. But we're not aiming to badmouth innocents in this, not at all-"

"Takeru-Onii-Cha-I mean, Onii-Sama! We need to go! Misao'll be late for piano!" Unexpectedly, Misao was the one who diverted the conversation, and everyone stopped to stare at her. Her arms were crossed over her chest, face flushed. She was clearly annoyed at this hold-up, even as she continued to assess the situation. Yui, on the other hand, now had a just as clear look of contempt on her face, while Manabu looked afraid as he clung to Yui's hand. _I wish I could give her another option, but I can hardly do that in front of her own brother. That'd be so disrespectful._

"Yes, Misao. You are right. Yui and Manabu will be late too. This isn't over, 3E representatives."

"Tch, it never is." Tsukuda said derisively.

"Takeru-Onii-Sama!" Misao protested once again.

Hasegawa ignored this, and instead beckoned to his siblings, grasping Yui's hand as they walked past them. He held his head up high, and was purposeful as he strode away, but it was not him who turned back to look at them. Instead, it was Misao, whose expression had once again become unusually inexplicable for one so young, who eyed them one final time before turning around. Tada, at a loss, smiled and waved encouragingly, but Misao did not react, and just turned back around to pitch into the conversation the Hasegawa siblings were having, which apparently centred around Manabu wanting ice-cream after tutoring.

"Well, that was bizarre." Tsukuda said, planting her hands on her hips momentarily as she eyeballed the space Hasegawa had taken up. Eriko and Tada nodded.

"It's a little worrying though….that he somehow knew. Do you think it was just coincidence or…" _No, the wording he used made it clear that he knew we'd be here, so he must have decided to take advantage of circumstances to…to what?_

"Thank you for that, Takao-san", Tada said warmly to Tsukuda's aunt as they went in the building and headed to the reception desk. "It might have been tricky if you hadn't been there."

"Ah, not a problem. It's what Hanae dragged me along for, after all. And, it's Atsuko to you. "

"Okay then, Atsuko-san."

As they approached the reception desk to ask for Arata Maki's office, the lift doors at the back opened and two men came out, both laughing and chatting to each other about something that was evidently hilarious. One was mid-thirties, with average mud-brown eyes and thick floppy hair dyed in all sorts of vivid, crazy colours ranging across the rainbow. He wore an unbuttoned charcoal suit jacket over a white t-shirt, loosely tied scarlet neck-tie, and navy denim jeans. The other man appeared about 10 years older, and his hair was a lot more sedate, being a toffee sort of colour and cut close to the scalp, and his eyes were hazel behind the green rectangular frames of his glasses. His trousers were a brighter version of this green, and he had paired this with a black chunky-knit jumper. This older man was Arata Maki, and as soon as he spotted them, his serious face broke out into a big smile and he almost galloped across the room, all hand-shakes and politeness.

"Ah, I really was just about to come and wait outside the building to lead you right in. We can go straight up to my office and we will get down to business. Do you want refreshments?" he asked once he had introduced himself to the three of them (and Tsukuda's aunt). He insisted right from the get-go that they address him by first name, and so the three students went with it.

"If it is not too much trouble. " Tada said for them. Arata nodded, then leaned over the counter and said a few things to the girl manning the counter, before turning back to them. His crazy-haired friend was still there, watching the proceedings happily enough, and Arata turned to him.

"Oshiro, these are the students from Kunugigaoka who I'm interviewing for the spotlight column." Arata explained. Oshiro nodded at this, seeming to see them in an appreciative light.

"Current 3E, right? I've heard you've embarked on what's shaping up to be more than a little endeavour. Good for you, I say. I was actually in 3E once a long time ago, when I was your age. That was 20 years ago now- it's hard to forget something like that. But, we'll have to talk next time, because I need to grab lunch before heading to this production meeting I have. So, good luck with the interview- you're in good hands with Maki, I can say that much- and Ending the End Class generally!"

With that, Oshiro left and Arata got the refreshments the receptionist had procured, then led the way to his office, making small talk all the way. From that, they found out that Oshiro was a producer for a television company, and that some of that company's workers used Kunugi Daybreak's buildings for their offices, and as a result the two companies did a lot of work together. It was how Oshiro and Arata had met, and they'd been friends ever since. Arata also asked lots of questions about them, their families and friends and hobbies, but also seemed to know when not to ask a particular question. _Probably why he is relatively successful here._

His office was a warm, welcoming space, spacious with the desk and three sofas inhabiting it. Two were single-seater sofas, and as Tada and Tsukuda instinctively went for the one double-seater, Eriko and Atsuko took these ones. Arata plopped himself behind the desk and then turned his computer screen slightly so that he could see them better.

"Okay then, is everyone comfortable? I'm going to be recording this, just to make it easier for me to write up later? And, perhaps I may take some photographs?"

"That's fine." Eriko said.

"yes, it is." Atsuko added. "But, since you are doing a recording yourself, I would request a copy of it myself, and the class requests that they get to see a copy of the article before it goes to print."

"Works for me." Arata agreed genially. "Anything else, Takao-san?"

"No. This is about the children, so I will leave this to them, unless something comes up which needs an adult advocate."

"Naturally."

The interview lasted a couple of hours, and with the way Arata handled it, it honestly felt to Tada as if they were having more of a friendly chat about their dreams, rather than a formal interview. Only Arata scribbling some notes from time to time, and the presence of the little recorder on the table reminded them of what they were really doing. Atsuko mostly stayed silent throughout, only interrupting a couple of times, recognising that although she was there to make sure they didn't stray into territory they could not return from, this was essentially their show, and for this, Tada was grateful. They took Arata through the basics, and made sure to talk about what everyone had done, not just the role the three of them had as Representatives, and even talked a little about the ideas they'd thought of in relation to the aftermath, though they didn't reveal all of these, not wanting to do such a thing until they themselves were all sure of how to progress. All in all, it was a successful endeavour, and Tada was glad that they'd agreed to it. He was sure that Tsukuda and Eriko felt the same.

Once they had wrapped thing up, Arata took a few minutes with Atsuko to upload the copy of the recording that he'd made, so that he could send it to her. Once again, he promised to send them a copy of the article so that they could be sure they were happy with it before sending it, and then he got up to walk them to the door of his office.

"Say, Arata-san, why were you so interested in us, considering we're the underdogs and all? You write about a lot of people, in all sorts of situations, but I can't really…see the reasons?"

"E-Eriko-Chan?" Tada blinked. Admittedly, he was curious as to whether Arata had deeper reasons for deciding to spotlight them, but the question still took him by surprise. However, Arata didn't care, and to answer the question, he went back across the room again, crouched in front of the little bookshelf, and scanned it, deftly picking out a reasonable sized volume before coming back and showing it to them. It was a novel by someone called Kousuke Sawada, and it was entitled _Satsuki._

"I have a friend, he's around Oshiro's age, maybe a year older. He published this novel four years ago. Before that, he was writing short stories and getting them published in newspapers such as this one for peanuts, literally, all while bringing up his daughter by himself, because the girl's mother basically just gave birth and then ran off. They were was only 17 when the girl was born, which is unfortunate but doesn't lessen the abandonment on both counts. But that isn't the worst of it, not really.

Leading up to that he'd been abused by family…and school didn't treat him so well either, so he ended up dropping out after middle school. But his daughter is in university now, he's published two more novels since this one, and is in the middle of another one, and he's doing well for himself. But if you'd met him when he was the age you three are now, who would believe it? Nobody."

The logical conclusion to that didn't need to be said. They all knew what Arata was implying, and Tada admired the journalist all the more for it. _More people need to be able to see like that._

"That's cool, that is. Really cool." Tada said, struck. The girls nodded too. Arata grinned at them, youthful as a result of it. Tada momentarily wondered if Arata had ever met Rio before. He strongly suspected that if they were to meet, they'd get on.

"You should definitely read this, if you get a chance."

"I will. By the way, what's his daughter's name? Kousuke Sawada's, I mean."

Arata simply tapped the cover of the novel, and Tada nodded. _Thought so._ Arata shook hands with them all once again, and then they left the building while he returned to his desk.

Atsuko dispensed quick goodbyes, making them promise to contact her if any problems came up, especially given that Hasegawa had managed to intercept them, and then rushed ahead of them, back to work. The three of the then ambled out of the building and down the road, before Eriko departed too, as she was going to go over the week's homework with Kaori. This just left Tsukuda and Tada together, walking together comfortably, quietly.

"Tada, How did you know that, about the novelist's daughter?" she asked after a moment. "Have you become psychic too?"

Tada chuckled at the idea.

"Haha, as if! No, it was just a feeling I had, from the way Arata-san spoke with pride about him, and how often he mentioned the daughter. I kind of like the idea, actually. It's the best kind of tribute, isn't it, to name something you have worked hard for after someone you love, regardless of whether they are alive or not…"

"Yeah." Tsukuda grasped his hand, and he gripped it back automatically. "Now, I'm not a sudden psychic either, but I'm guessing the next stop for you is visiting Karasuma-sensei?"

"Got it in one, Hanae." He winked at her, and she pulled a face at him.

"Well then, we should probably get over there, right?"

"Yeah."

 **…**

As he got ready for bed that night, Hasegawa reviewed what he knew and had witnessed regarding the 3E Class Representatives and their precious newspaper article. It seemed that preying on Hidaka had proved quite useful. The boy was clear 3E material, weak and an outlier, with the worst stammer he'd had the displeasure of ever encountering. Yet he was also observant, and had provided this information, all without provoking suspicion in any of his new classmates. A feat in itself-he had seen the fire in Tsukuda's eyes, the resolve in Eriko's posture and the faith in Tada's expression to know that though they were 3E scum like the rest, they were not listless- he had to acknowledge that much. It just went to show, in a way, that people were not as simple as what they presented on the surface.

But he found himself in a bind in knowing how to use the information. The lawyer they'd brought along had been unexpected, meaning he couldn't appropriately invoke the rule of the school. Worst, the lawyer was actually right. He did not actually have the rights to stop them from speaking to a newspaper, nor did he have jurisdiction over them on a Saturday anyway. _And I am not about to sully the Hasegawa name, no matter how vocal these people get. There won't be any need for that, anyway. It's just a local newspaper, and a weekend column of the newspaper. I would need to be more worried if they reached the front page._ Naturally, he had researched the journalist he'd been told would be the one holding the interview, and he gave himself a satisfied nod as his eyes temporarily latched upon the relevant folder nestled amongst the many others on his desk. Journalist though he was, Hasegawa determined he would not be that much of a threat, given that he seemed to mainly associate with weak people, such as that allegedly well-liked author who had dropped out of school and become a teenage parent. He'd talked to Otonashi about it, for the Male Class Representative had a big interest in newspapers, and this had been confirmed.

 _Of course, that doesn't mean letting it slide,_ he thought as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, pulling his pyjama top on. 3E, even if they were just essentially shouting into a vacuum, needed to be silenced for the sake of the school, in order for it to carry on. _The piece won't be published until next week, but I will tell Principal Okikura on Monday, as a courtesy. But we won't need to do anything else. I think I've managed to shake them up enough for them to remember that they're the weak ones, the wrong ones, in all of this. It's just a shame that Misao and the others had to be around for that._ They were young, especially Manabu, and as such they had appeared to quickly forget about it. But they were also Hasegawas, carrying the Hasegawa name, and so he would not be surprised if they had absorbed the information for a later occasion. Misao in particular worried him in this regard- she was coming up to the time that she would need to take entrance exams for middle school, after all. And that school would be none other than Kunugigaoka.

Except it might not be. He tilted his head as he heard Misao start to pound out an angry Bach piece on the piano, despite the late hour. She, naturally, had not had problems with the idea of Kunugigaoka- _How could she, it is the best school for a Hasegawa-_ but she had been making noises about going to an international music school abroad somewhere, as an exchange student. She certainly had the skills for it, that much could be conceded (after all, out of the 5 eldest, she was the only one of them who had kept with a musical instrument past third grade, taking up others alongside it). And of course, she was hardly intellectually stupid, either. _So maybe this afternoon's exchange could have given her ideas._ He didn't think he'd left room for his youngest siblings to misunderstand who was the better one in that, but like he had acknowledged, Misao was growing up now, and she'd probably find a clever way of twisting the information to get her own way regarding music school.

 _But in a way, I would expect nothing less. But still. Do not worry yourself about that now, Takeru._ He shook his head, and then made sure that he had the correct books out for the next day's studying. Once he had done that, he flicked off the light and went over to his bed and got under the covers. Noticing his phone still lying on the bedside table, he reached over and turned it off, but the gesture reminded him he would need to tell the others about meeting Tada, Eriko and Tsukuda outside the Kunugi Daybreak building. _No use expecting them to be my right hand men if they're not in the loop._ That, and there was the somewhat unhealthy glee he took in knowing he'd be able to tell Otsuka that Hidaka was proving useful so far. _And that brings me back to Hidaka-kun again. I wonder if he will be able to provide more information soon, information that will really allow them to be stopped once and for all._

 _And of course_ , he thought as he drifted off into a satisfied sleep, _how long will I be able to continue using the boy for?_

 **…**

Surprisingly, when they came back in on Monday, nothing happened regarding the newspaper Hasegawa. Tada had assumed that they'd get called up by the principal, or hauled up in front of the student council, or something. But nothing had happened at all, and all the class could really do was speculate and muse about it. Ichijou, for her part, promised she wouldn't have passed on such information to the main campus, a meaningless reassurance, for she was not that sort of person anyway. In the end, all they could do was just move on with their days, and just keep it in mind.

Arata Maki finished and sent the article to Tada and the others on Tuesday evening, and then the next day, at lunchtime, Eriko gathered the class around to make sure they were all happy with the article. They also sought the counsel of Isogai and the others, and once Atsuko had confirmed they could not legitimately get expelled or anything as dire over the article ("though," she had pointed out, "a dressing down would probably be expected, as you're disturbing their so-called peace. Not that that's fair either, but still"), Tada had replied back to Arata with a thumbs-up, and from then, they all eagerly awaited the publication of Kunugi Daybreak and its 'Saturday Spotlight' column. Ayako posted a couple of lines on it on the blog, and while the usual trolls (otherwise known as Hasegawa and the Virtuosos) shouted their dissent, the support overwhelmed that, so Izzy suggested that when it was released, scanning in a copy of the paper so that their readers from other parts of the country could see it would be a good move. Given that it was essentially a public newspaper, Tada didn't see why not, and so he Okayed the idea.

After that, it was just a matter of waiting, and carrying on as usual.

 **…**

"I-I-Oh wow, t-that r-really is exhausting, huh?"

Reaching the top of the hill, Hidaka leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He knew that class assemblies were hellish for 3E because of this journey, but experiencing it was another thing completely. _Didn't think I ever would have to,_ the bitter voice in his head said resentfully.

"If we had gone the other way, it would have been even worse!" Jori told him conspiratorially as she and Kaori helped Fuyumi out of her wheelchair.

"A-Ah, T-That's right. T-This i-isn't the sc-school recommended route, right?"

"No, it really isn't." Hirigi said. "That route would make you shudder, seriously. It's a good thing our class reps figured out this way was the better one!"

"That I can agree with!" Koujiro said merrily. He came up behind Hidaka and slung a matey arm around his shoulders, throwing him off balance. He couldn't hide the hate that flared in him, but Koujiro seemed none the wiser and grinned happily at him. Waveringly, Hidaka returned the gesture before wriggling away and walking ahead to get into the classroom.

"It's rather relaxed up here, eh, Hidaka?"

Hidaka jumped a mile when Aida popped up beside him, and once again he was off balance. This time, he didn't hide his annoyance. Aida didn't care, just flicking back her braids as they walked up to the door of the classroom. A few of the others had already gotten there, Hidaka noticed, so he made to be the next of them when Aida suddenly yanked his sleeve and pulled him back.

"W-What w-was that for?" he asked. Aida just studied him.

"You're not doing anything stupid, are you? Because you're here."

"Huh?"

" _Ah, piss off! Do you really think I'm that bloody desperate?! I'm not volunteering for mind games, so count me out of them! See you next term, Hidaka."_

Remembering, Hidaka found himself scrambling. Had Aida realised what he was doing? Was she going to expose him? He couldn't let that happen, that would end up truly disastrous.

"Whatever. You're a fucking idiot, Hidaka, but I'll leave you to it." With that, Aida strode on ahead, and Hidaka shivered. _If she already has an inkling, then how many of the others do? I'm…I'm never going to get back to the main campus that way._

Disconsolate, he headed back to his desk and yawned. Ichijou still hadn't come up, which was understandable, as she was old, but it just went to show what a hellhole the place was, and he just detested his presence here all the more. As he thought about this, Yukiyama wandered in and languidly walked towards his desk, earphones in his ears as usual. _Scum, you scum._ Hidaka badly wanted to challenge him, to confront him as to why he thought he could possibly be worthy of Hiro, who was a better person than any 3E loser- _including me-_ but he was not gutsy enough. In any case, Yukiyama did not pay him any heed.

"Hidaka-san, a-are you alright?"

Reimiya had paused by his desk, and watched him curiously, the gold flecks in her eyes seeming to dance as she patiently waited for an answer. It occurred to him that she, too, had a slight stutter to her voice, but also that she was at least a little concerned about him. _Beautiful eyes._ He made sure not to say it aloud this time, but it was still true. They had begun to haunt him, especially when he was on the phone to Hasegawa.

 _So, where does that leave me then?_

"A-Ah, I'm f-fine, i-it's all f-fine. J-just n-n-ot v-very fit, th-th-that's all!" he laughed awkwardly, the sound abrasive to him. Reimiya seemed satisfied and beamed.

"That's good then!" she chimed before heading to her own seat. Reno followed closely, but paused to stare at Hidaka, boring into his inner being, or so it seemed. Hidaka squirmed as he waited for Reno to go away, and let out a huge sigh of relief when he did so. But it was not true relief, for he could still feel Reno's eyes from behind. _I am being watched._

"Sorry to keep you waiting, children!" Ichijou came in at that point, Haru and Kinomoto following behind her. Surprisingly, the teacher and the girl were carrying trays loaded with teacups.

"Admittedly, today wasn't too bad of an assembly, I don't think, but you were singled out more than usual, especially with that section about taking pride in school and the usage of media, so Ichinose-san and I decided that this called for another tea session. So, as usual, once Ichinose-san and Kinomoto-kun have handed out the cups, then we'll begin the lesson."

"Waste of time, isn't it?" Hidaka could hear Aida mutter. He sort of knew how she felt, but mostly he was just too confused. He'd heard some of them talk about the tea, but figured it to be some sort of joke. But now, Kinomoto was placing a teacup on his desk, and Hidaka found himself nodding and thanking him before taking a sip. _Oh, that's soothing._

"It's actually quite helpful. And by now, we've got the procedure down to a t, so I wouldn't worry, Aida-san!" Kinomoto chirpily said as he stashed the empty tray in the front.

"It's one of our traditions here!" Ayako also put in.

"You might knock it now, but it's actually really helpful. Tea is such a great de-stressor!" Koujiro cheered. Kinomoto turned to flash a smile at him as he finished handing out the cups and put the tray away.

"Everyone needs to rejuvenate sometimes." Was Azama's oh-so-helpful contribution to this. Aida just clicked her teeth and sat back, not touching the tea. Once Haru had also finished handing out the cups, she stashed her tray with the one Kinomoto had put back, and then went to sit down.

After that, Ichijou started the lesson, and they all knuckled down to work. Everyone took sips from their cups from time to time, even Aida (eventually), but the beverage did not distract. Rather, it seemed to help with things, even if he could not quite put a finger on what the effect was. And indeed, everyone was benefitting from it. _Is this maybe how they are able to keep on, day after day? Because they have little traditions like this? I…how does that make me feel?_ Hidaka found it strange, the realisation that he was enjoying himself, enjoying a lesson, getting something meaningful out of it. It was foreign, and just a little weird. Sneaking glances at everyone, seeing how those of them who'd been there from the beginning seemed content, he found himself stunned and confused.

 _Perhaps….does this mean that 3E isn't all bad?_ Certainly, this seemed to suggest that this was so. But at the same time, his old friends had all deleted him and blocked him from their contacts, ignoring him whenever they saw each other in person. Fellow students jeered at him and shoved him, and looked down on him, and his family life was now tense. They'd been singled out in assembly, and a bunch of second year girls had thrown scrunched up lunch wrappers at them on the way. _Even if it isn't completely bad, it is still 3E. Still the bottom of the barrel, the End Class, as it were._

 _So I still need to get out of here._

* * *

 **I'm feeling a little muddled, so I can't even remember right now if I referred to Tsukuda's aunt by name in previous chapters, but she's meant to be a maternal aunt, hence the differing surnames. Anyway, again, you might have noticed some new characters, who would seem to have something in common with the OCs I asked for back when I had the modified SYOC open. I'm curious as to what role you think those OCs, and the ones I've created to eventually go alongside them, will end up doing in the story. I mean, you will find out in some chapters time (I'm estimating that will be Ch47, which would come up as Ch48 when uploaded here). But anyway, I think this chapter will have answered some questions you had about the interview and other such things. I hope you enjoyed it, and please do leave feedback!**


	43. I Don't Want a Witch Hunt

**I don't know if any of you are interested, but I'm helping run a Chiba/Hayami related week on Tumblr. It'll take place in August, but the blog has already been launched. If you look for 'ChibaHayaWeek' on Tumblr you should be able to find it. So, if you are interested, follow it, send queries, tell others who may be interested to come over and have a look etc. etc. and well, just look forward to August! ^^**

 **Anyway, without further ado, here is the chapter!**

* * *

Tada generated more than a few curious looks from those of his classmates who had already arrived as he came up the hill carrying the flat box with both hands. He grinned at them, wickedly proud.

"What is that? " Tsuwabuki was the first to ask, abandoning the hanging basket he was pruning and meandering over, face crinkled in puzzlement. For some reason taking this as a prompt, Yamada jumped out of the cherry tree and peered over. Tada grinned, and then beckoned them all over as he set the box down on the grass and lifted the lid.

"Oooh, green things!" Ruko zipped over immediately upon arrival. When everyone gave her somewhat depressed looks, she sighed heavily and gave a dramatic shrug, rolling her expressive light purple eyes.

"It was a joke! I know what these are. More of Tada-Chan's rubber knives, for practise."

"Yeah, that's right. I managed to retrieve them this weekend."

That Saturday, Tada and Hiro had gone to Karasuma's place to clean up and generally check on it, as they had done a couple of times a year. Their own house, their old one, had already been cleared out and put on the market, as they weren't going to return. But they had every faith that the same would not be true for Karasuma, and so they made sure it was in good condition, ready for his return. So Tada had called upon his old school friends Tatsuya and Jin, while Hiro had dragged her former club member Momoka, and they had all gone there to clean up and sort the mail. And Tada had also used the opportunity to find the spare rubber knives he knew Karasuma had stored, so that he could let his classmates use them for P.E. lessons. Karasuma had kept a surprising amount of mementoes, all of them boxed or bagged, dated and then stored neatly. Tada had longed to go through all the ones marked with the year his mother had been in 3E, but they hadn't wanted to spend the whole day there, as they'd also planned to go grab a bite to eat and generally catch up, because another thing that both he and Hiro wanted to know was what third year at Riverside was like. _Because we won't get to experience that._

"Uh, Tada-san, what's with the spacing out?" Jori clicked her fingers at him and he blinked and shook his head.

"Right, yeah, sorry. Now we can all practise at the same time and stuff, rather than just watching and observing and taking turns."

"It sure took long enough." Koujiro said, with no rancour. When Tada looked up at him, he just grinned.

"Y-You a-actually use k-knives t-t-to de-defend yourselves?" Hidaka asked. Tada shook his head.

"We don't actually go around carrying around weapons. But it would be silly to assume that if we got into trouble, the other would fight fair, right? So if we practise knife work, then we know what to do if we come up against an actual knife. It's still self defense like the hand-to-hand combat Hanae and Haru-Chan teach us in P.E, just a different type. This is the type I learnt. "

"O-Oh, I-I see."

"They _are_ just rubber you know, Hidaka," Aida said as she sauntered past, pausing long enough to get a measure of the scene. "Even if we did carry these around, they wouldn't do much, so it really is not that big a deal."

The last sentence of Aida's was sharp, even for her, and Tada regarded her in puzzlement. She just heaved a sigh, looked up at nothing in particular, and then muttered something in annoyance before heading inside.

"Ah, don't listen to her, she's just a grouch." Ruko tried to encourage Hidaka, who looked shaken by her words. "It's not as if you're familiar with our habits yet. "

"Yeah, that's right," Fuyumi comforted. Hidaka smiled waveringly, and then after eyeing the knives one more time, he got up and dusted himself down.

"I-I'm g-going t-to go i-inside now. A-Ah, g-good m-morning!" Hidaka almost ran over to where Reimiya and Reno were heading up, looking extraordinarily hopeful as he did so. Tada clamped down on the chuckle the scenario produced in him. _I wonder how this would even end._

"Well, we still need to finish the plants, right?" Kinomoto also got up, stretching his arms. Haru, who had just been peering over, straightened and nodded, readjusting the ribbon in her hair and walking over to the set of plants she was tending. Even though it was autumn, the way Kinomoto had arranged things meant that there was still plenty of beauty, and no doubt he had made arrangements to make sure the same was true for the winter too.

"Tsuwabuki-kun, what's wrong?" Kinomoto paused when he realised his friend hadn't gotten up, and was just staring at the green knives as if they were alive. Somehow, Tada didn't think that Tsuwabuki's reaction was to do with a misunderstanding, the way Hidaka's had been, so he poked him lightly in the shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Tsuwabuki looked up and rubbed his eyes as if awakening from a long sleep.

"I've seen these before."

"Y-yeah…" Tada said slowly. "I've brought my own one in, and sometimes I borrowed Hiro's too."

"No, no, from somewhere else….but I can't place it. " Tsuwabuki seemed almost afraid as he scrutinised them. Tada met Kinomoto's eyes, but it looked as if he wasn't sure what the deal was, either. Eventually though, he shook it off and got up.

"It doesn't really matter, I can't remember it right now. Kinomoto-kun, let's finish the plants before it's time for registration."

"Y-Yeah, sure!"

Tada looked down at the rubber knives again once the boys and Haru had gone, and wondered what it was that was so scary about them. Then, he decided to put such thoughts away and he popped the lid back on the box ad hefted it up again to take to the classroom, trying to think of the best place to store them.

"Oh, are those the spares you were talking about?!" Tsukuda came up behind him, falling into step with him almost immediately.

"Yeah, they are."

"That's great, you finally got around to it!" she teased. "Here, I'll carry them."

She lifted the box from him before he could even object, and so he just let her. They went into the classroom for a moment, and scanned the area, but couldn't find a good place to put it. So they went back out again and trekked across and around the building (which, all things considered, was not that much of a trek), until they found an empty shelf in the storage shed. Once it was stashed, they took the leisurely way back to class (more in method rather than route), and when they got there, Ichijou had arrived, and so, it was time for the day to begin.

 **…**

"Oh, is that your guitar?!"

The question, aimed at her current class member Jori, and asked by other class member Yamada, stuck Aida as almost extraordinarily stupid. After all, what else would a giant guitar case be holding? In a way, she wasn't surprised by this, as this was 3E. _What else should I have expected?_ But, on the other hand, even if she was ditzy, Yamada knew more about astronomy than Aida could ever hope to know. In fact, she'd come to notice that everyone had different sides to them that she would not have known about otherwise.

And of course, the current main example of that was Jori, who had brought in her acoustic guitar. The girl had been a former gymnastics team member, so she would have honestly not pegged her as the musical type. But yet, there she was, sitting in the classroom enjoying being the centre of attention that lunchtime, everyone almost instantly crowding around her and asking her about the guitar, from technical points to song requests.

"Aida-san, come, sit here." Fuyumi gestured to an empty space, suggesting she should bring her chair there, but Aida refused. Why should she? She didn't want to get stuck in the camaderie. Besides, she was not the only one who was sitting apart from things, Kitabayashi, Kuroba, Yukiyama and Akira weren't either, though admittedly Kuroba and Akira were bad examples as they were still watching, but just on the fringes, alternating with doing their own thing. _Still, I don't want to be involved._ Yet despite her assertion, she found herself just watching, propping her chin in her hands and just watching the proceedings.

"Okay, okay, if we're doing full song requests, let's just do this one at a time, otherwise I'll be bombarded." Jori said after demonstrating a few chords and other such things.

"Hear, hear!" Koujiro said. "So then, roll up, roll up!"

 _Is he an idiot?_

Various song requests were put forward, and either accepted or rejected by Jori based on whether she knew them or not. A couple of songs, surprisingly, were sung in English, with more than a few members of the class joining in to sing along to Jori's rendition of Sara Bareilles' 'Love Song'. It was a warm sort of atmosphere, and it got a little silly, some of the girls giddy with laughter. Even Aida could feel it, as she saw the easy, cheerful faces of 3E, complementing the different voices around her. Even Fuyumi's chronic tone-deafness didn't dampen things. _Is this really the notorious Class 3E? Why aren't they downtrodden or miserable?_ Even after just over a couple of weeks, Aida could not understand.

"We have a bit of time still, don't we?" Tada said after Jori had done a version of JealKB's 'Makemagic', "Let's do one more! That's okay, right, Jori-Chan?"

"Sure. But you didn't request anything in particular yet, did you?"

"It's fine, it's fine. I can't think of something particular anyway. You can ask someone else though."

"Ooo, ooh, the chocolate one!"

" _What_?"

Clearly, nobody had any idea what Ruko, who looked very excited about this, was on about. She wasn't deterred though, and sought to demonstrate, her camera swinging as she wiggled empathetically in a vague attempt at dance.

"Ah, you know, it goes like…..anata ga taberarenai mono bakari o, watashi wa suki ni natteshimau, anata ga taberarenai monogatari o, watashi wa egaiteru…."

Ruko stopped and grinned winningly. _What an idiotic song that must be….what the fuck are those lyrics even? But still, I kinda wanna know what it sounds like._

"Ah, wait, I know it too! I'll YouTube it quickly, so you can get a feel for it! You totally _should_ play this, Kasai-san!" Ayako offered. Jori sweat-dropped, with good reason. Aida sometimes felt would have strangled Ayako if she wasn't averse to murder, she could be that annoying, but given that she wasn't involving herself, she bit back on a response and pretended she wasn't watching the proceedings while actually observing with bated breath as she ploughed through the rest of her lunch. Sure enough, Ayako found the song, and played about half of it before Jori made her stop, claiming to have grasped the rhythm of it. And so, once the others were quiet enough, she launched into it.

"Anata ga taberarenai mono bakari o  
watashi wa suki ni natteshimau  
anata ga taberarenai monogatari o  
watashi wa egaiteru

Anata ga taberarenai mono bakari o  
watashi wa suki ni natteshimau  
anata wa kanaerarenai mono bakari  
watashi wa yumemireru."

Everyone in the class joined in, as they'd done in some of the songs, and those who didn't know the lyrics had them up on their phone, sharing with others so that they didn't have to take out theirs. Izzy had opened the page up on his laptop, which he and Hana referred to while the latter outdid everyone with her singing voice.

"Watashi wa dokoka no shiranai dareka to koi ni ochiteyuku yo  
anata no taberarenai chokoreeto  
hoobarinagara

Anata ga taberarenai mono bakari o  
watashi wa suki ni natteshimau  
anata ga tadoritsukenai tokoro made  
watashia wa aruiteku

chiyokoreito de dokomade  
ubai ni kitemisete  
amai nioi ni okasarete  
yogoreteshimau mae ni  
teokure ni naru mae ni…"

The more she blocked out the song, the more it seemed to want to invade her space, and she found herself, somewhat contradictorily, not minding. But she wasn't about to yield to that, to become one of them, so although she gave in, it was not complete. Rather than joining in completely, she just mouthed the words silently to herself, and remained apart.

"Watashi wa dokoka no shiranai dareka to koi ni ochiteyuku yo  
anata no taberarenai chokoreeto  
hoobarinagara

Watashi wa "anata to sugoseta mirai" omottemirunda yo  
choko no kawari wa maccha to anko  
futari de onnaji eiga o mitari  
onnaji keshiki o nagametai  
futari de narande arukitai  
"watashi wa imademo kawattenai yo"  
nante,ienai yona

Anata ga taberarenai mono bakari o watashi wa suki natteshimau  
anata ga taberarenai monogatari o  
watashi wa egaiteru."

When the song ended, they all broke out into laughter and applause. Aida half clapped silently, hiding her hands under the desk. Jori laughed, and stood up to bow as she went to put away the guitar. The others also scattered and went back to their own seats.

"That wasn't so bad now, was it, Aida-Chan?" Tada casually mentioned as he and Tsukuda went past her. Aida pursed her lips. _Just how badly do you want members to the cause?_ She did not want to be a big part of Ending the End Class, nowhere near. She had to admit the project wasn't a stupid one, but nor was she fully behind it. That, and she did not consider herself a 3E member. She was hardly about to fight for something she was not invested in.

"You all seemed to enjoy yourself. And Kasai is actually quite talented." _Forget being a cynical what-not, Airi, just answer the question for now!_

"Are you surprised?" Tsukuda asked.

Aida opened her mouth to deliver a response, then paused. She _was_ surprised, but she couldn't be tactless and straight-up say that she wouldn't imagine 3E students to actually be multi-talented, or even just generally talented. _Besides, I'm not so sure all my assumptions were right in the first place. Is it right to say that 3E really_ are _the 'End Class'?_

"Well, Kasai is a sporty type, having been on the gymnastics team and all…"

"Huh, fair enough, I suppose." Tsukuda shrugged. At that time, Ichijou bumbled in, so Tada and Tsukuda scooted back to their desks.

"Well now, I could hear you all from the staffroom. You all did sound so very lovely, and it was pleasant to hear. So now, let's see what the lesson will be about…"

Ichijou didn't take long to remember, and so the lesson started fairly efficiently. Aida immersed herself in the lesson fairly quickly, and soon got herself lost in the notes she was making, the fun of the lunchtime singalong pushed to the back of her mind. No matter how much she'd found herself enjoying it, she wouldn't soften and join them.

 _Hell no. I'm getting back to the main campus as soon as possible. And that isn't going to change._

 **…**

As he had been doing for the past couple of weeks, Kuroba continued to observe Hidaka on the sly as they cleared up after Home Economics. He had not been able to find anything definitive to confirm the bad feeling he got off the guy. But he would, he just knew it.

Right at that moment, he was exhibiting the same restless behaviour Kuroba had spotted initially, that seeming to want to take absolutely every single thing in, trying to listen to everything everyone was saying, and in a skittish way too. One thing Kuroba noticed for sure that out of all the people Hidaka seemed to try and listen to, it was Ayako, Fuyumi and the three class representatives he stuck the closest too. Sure, there was Reimiya as well but that was a serious case of being moonstruck. It was more significant that it was the other five that Hidaka looked upon.

 _What's significant about those five, particularly?_ He tried to break this down as he washed yet more pans, giving himself a moment to quietly rage about being one of the washer-uppers before getting back to the task at hand. Three of the five were Class Representatives, and that obviously answered part of the puzzle. But not all of it. It did not tell him about all of them, as a group, nor why Hidaka would be trying to glean information off of them. As Hidaka brought him more items to wash and then grabbed a cloth to wipe down his work station, Kuroba glared at the awkward boy's back. Tsukuda and Eriko also came in, chatting about the upcoming mid-terms, and there a new opportunity was given, as Hidaka practically stood to attention, clearly trying to make his motion subtle.

The two female representatives went about doing what they'd come over to do, and so did Hidaka, but Kuroba noted out of the corner of his eye the way Hidaka leaned in closer, to listen. Eventually, Tsukuda and Eriko changed the subject completely and went out of earshot, and Hidaka remained where he was, cleaning his work station. Kuroba studied him, not worried about whether he was spotted. _Let him be afraid._ Yukiyama came past with a few more bits and pieces to wash, and Hana came up behind him, with Tsukuda again. And then, another flash of hatred, straight from Hidaka's eyes, towards Yukiyama. Hana suppressed a gasp by clapping her hands over her mouth momentarily before lowering them again, and then looked over at Kuroba, who gave her a slow nod. _There, someone else's noticed. I'll ask her what she thinks later on._

"Here, Kuroba, we'll take over here. Do you think you could put the stuff that didn't need washing back into storage? I don't think anyone's gotten around to it." Tsukuda suggested.

"Fine by me." More than fine, in fact, for the washing was something he couldn't _stand_. He went over to the various work stations and started gathering things. Hirigi, Tada and Haru were doing their own section, so he let them be and just concentrated on the other sections. With some disapproval, he noted most of the others had gone back to the classroom, but he shook it away. _It's not important right now._

"I'll take the lower cupboards. " A couple of items disappeared from his hands, and Kuroba turned to Fuyumi, who gave him a serene stare. As he didn't talk to her more or less than anyone else, he just shrugged and let it be, and they silently delegated the rest of the clearing up between each other. Though she struggled to balance her crutches while carrying things, Kuroba didn't help her, because he knew she was striving towards independence. As it happened, she didn't seem to need it, and managed well enough.

"You've noted it too, haven't you, Kuroba-san?"

"Noted what?"

"Hidaka-san." Fuyumi kept her tone lowered as she looked around. It seemed that Hidaka had gone back to the classroom, and the relief at this showed on her face, but she still remained quiet. "There is something….not right."

"In what sense, Yukimura?" Kuroba was aware of Fuyumi's 'clairvoyance' but was sceptical. He didn't believe in the supernatural, and thought it was stupid for anyone to do so. That being said, he did not deny that Fuyumi had an almost extraordinary insight, and that it had been helpful from time to time. And also very annoying. So he waited to see what she had to say.

"He….he seems like he's nice. A little nervous and timid, but nice. But there's something steely underneath it, he has something that's driving all his actions here. I'd say its hate related….I don't suppose you've seen, have you? That hateful glare he gives sometimes, particularly to Yukiyama-san. Sometimes to Tada-san and Ayako-san too. None of them seem to notice it….but I think you have."

"I've seen it. I just can't pin it down. "He admitted to her.

"Neither can I. Not really. Unlike what Jo-san says, I'm not a crystal ball. I just…..get a sense of things."

"Right." Kuroba chose not to respond to that particular statement. "He eavesdrops too, you know. "

"I know." Fuyumi surprised him by saying. They lapsed into a silence for a while as they finished the last of the tidying, and they left the room together. Kuroba slowed his usual pace, because walking speed was a different matter to putting things away.

"On myself, Takashita-san and the three representatives." Fuyumi picked up the thread of conversation again. "And you and Izzy-san. The major contributors to our project. Which is why I'm so worried about it….what should we do about it…?"

"Myself and Izzy?!" Kuroba hadn't noticed this at all. _Am I going soft?_ "Are you sure?!"

"Well, not so successfully. You two are pretty secretive….and rather fearsome, and I think the aspect of Hidaka-san's nerves that aren't trying to hide something are genuine enough to be scared by that, if you don't mind me saying."

"Right, I see. " He did see. All of a sudden, the answer to the puzzle was there. _The major contributors to our project. To Ending the End Class. He's trying to find out as much as possible about the project's inner workings, isn't he? And he hasn't offered much of anything in return. Which probably means…_

They stopped just outside the classroom, so that Hidaka would not eavesdrop on them.

"It's going to be bad, for us, for 3E. Whatever he is doing, it is going to be bad….."

"You don't say." Kuroba caustically responded. But he puzzled over this, and thought of what was at stake. What had been shared with Hidaka already, and what hadn't been. _The signs are already showing, if the others knew how to see them. But I think there is still enough_

"I can message you later, if you want. Tell you what I think he knows in a proper list….but one thing he doesn't know for sure is….." Fuyumi then leaned forward on her crutches to mouth the names of Isogai and the others.

"Well, not formally at least. I'll message you what I mean." She continued in normal speaking tones. "But, Kuroba-san, we should tell Tada-san, don't you think? I…if I'm guessing right about what you're thinking that Hidaka's game is, then more people need to know, and fast."

"Yes." _I somehow don't think that betrayal has figured very high into Tada's ideas of what could go wrong with this thing. And despite myself, I find it hard to blame him for that. Just look at this inefficient model. Humans aren't ants!_

"I think it may come better from you. Especially if you talk about your 'feelings' and 'senses'." Kuroba decided eventually (and almost reluctantly, for some reason). This got a wry smile from Fuyumi.

"Ah, a sceptic. Still. I don't want to single out Hidaka, exactly…it could turn out a witch-hunt….but very well, I'll talk to them, so at least they know they need to be careful about things."

"That sounds a good plan of action for now. Tell me how it goes." This was not a question, and Fuyumi took it as such.

"Will do. " She readjusted her crutches and started to make her way into the classroom. Hearing Hana come up behind them, Kuroba decided to be nice and wait for her, but his attention was grabbed one more time by Fuyumi, who had stopped in the doorway.

"Kuroba-san?"

"What is it?"

"I….you know, I sort of hope that we're wrong about all this."

Though he knew full well that in circumstances like this he was rarely wrong, Kuroba found himself nodding at this. _But I'm_ not _wrong, and once I catch him in the act of selling us out I will_ personally _wring his neck. He won't get away with it._

"Me too."

 **…**

Gathered around the table in the boardroom where Student Council meetings took place, Hasegawa, Otsuka, Fujimura, Maeda and Otonashi all pored over the various notes that Hasegawa had made in relation to what Hidaka had told him.

"That….isn't a lot, is it?" Otsuka sniffed, looking at the pages.

"It would probably make more sense to go through the content itself before deciding on whether the quantity is enough." Fujimura countered. "If he has given us a few significantly useful pieces of information, that's much better than lots of useless filler."

"Exactly right, Fujimura-kun." Hasegawa smoothly agreed. "Anyway, the main thing we managed to find out about in advance was the newspaper article they got published in the Daybreak."

"Tch, it's just some piddly column in a weekend edition, right?" Maeda snorted.

"We should have told Principal Okikura directly, instead of just trying to get them to back down ourselves- yourself, even." Otonashi said. To Hasegawa's ears, he sounded almost plaintive, so he quietly ignored this, and addressed Maeda instead.

"It's still reaching a wider audience than the one they already have, and the more people they reach, the more that counts for them."

"It's increased popularity to their blog, too. They're getting more hits, more queries etc., though I can't speak for anything that might be sent to the email address. " Fujimura remarked. Hasegawa nodded at this. He almost wished Fujimura's interests drifted to hacking, but unfortunately that was not so. They would have not been able to use it anyway, not if they wanted to stay on Principal Okikura's good side. _That, and if I remember correctly, they have a hacker in that class anyway. No, I remember for sure. Izaya Arisato. That's the one._

"So anyway, that's over and done with now. Not much that can be done there, but it's worth keeping an eye on. If they get more attention, say, nationwide, then it's possibly something that we-or Principal Okikura- can do. "

Hasegawa had a feeling that when things did come to a head, it would, in the end come down to them, or at least him, to make sure that 3E did not succeed. Given the circumstances, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

"So what else did you find out then? Don't leave us in suspense." Fujimura spoke up.

"You can _read,_ can't you?" Otsuka asked.

"Anyway, one of the main interesting things is that they're actually teaching themselves self-defence for P.E." Hasegawa referred to one of his middle points. "They'd made some references to this on some of the articles, just generally talking about protecting themselves and resilience and some other related points, but they'd never actually fully talked about what they were doing precisely in these regards."

"President, we get that already, just tell us what they're doing."

"Hand-to-hand combat, kendo-type techniques and knife work, according to Hidaka-kun. Apparently all three representatives have skills in one or more of these types and so one of them always lead the lessons, but the general gist of it seems to be that Hanae Tsukuda and Haruka Ichinose teach hand-to-hand, Eriko Fujisaki takes care of the kendo, and Tadaomi Kitakawa does knife work with the help of Haruka Ichinose, again. "

"Shit, Kitakawa. You're referring to the guy who transferred in late last year, right? The one whose sister is in our class?" Maeda spluttered.

"Him? That soft touch, with knives?" Otsuka was just as derisive. "Are you sure Hidaka isn't just making things up."

"I'm confident that he knows what he is talking about. According to him they do not use actual knives, but pretend ones that Kitakawa-kun has procured from somewhere and apparently uses routinely. Likewise, they use wooden practise swords for the kendo-type practise."

"Well, duh!" Otsuka snorted.

"Hmm," Fujimura peered over and frowned at the notes on the particular issue. "Logic would suggest their motive for doing that is that little 'rule' that Principal Okikura put into place last term. They're preparing for the worst, as it were. So they can fight back if 'something' happens. Goes to show how stupid they are."

"Exactly!" Hasegawa was impressed. "Exactly so. They were already shaken- the unsurprisingly violent reaction from Tsukuda that time goes to show that."

"But nothing much has come out of it, which sort of paints them as unstable." Otonashi mused.

"And then when something does happen, the fact that they've been training with weapons can easily be turned against them. No need to mention they're just pretend ones, just crying 'weapons' will knock them off their perch!" Otsuka laughed, clearly excited about this idea. "No one will believe them if they tried to defend themselves after _that_ little revelation."

"It's a strong argument," Otonashi earnestly agreed, though he did not look nearly as pleased. "But. One could argue that the fact they're teaching themselves something in the first place that they're self-sufficient and prepared to look after themselves."

"What, do you actually _like_ them or something?" Maeda jeered. Otonashi went red, but shook his head vehemently.

"It's good to consider the counterarguments, Maeda-kun." Hasegawa silkily intervened.

"That's true. I somehow don't think that they'll meekly nod their heads and surrender. The fact they've continued on this long shows that. Obviously, we'll win in the end though." Fujimura agreed. _At least there is someone else being level-headed here._

"That, and they have actual support too, don't they? That Akabane kid from the school in Kyoto, and his class teacher, for one." Otsuka's lip curled as she spat this out. "Then that journalist, not to mention the lawyer aunt."

"Hmm, the lawyer aunt was interesting to know. She comes from a good firm too. Still, since we're now aware of that, if things on our end come too far, we can hire much better." _Much, much better, especially as they'll be_ paid _to quash them._ Hasegawa already had a few ideas in mind anyway.

"But, "he continued. "It's these names that keep coming up in Hidaka-kun's reports that are more interesting- Isogai, Maehara and Kataoka. Apparently, nobody has sat Hidaka-kun down- or Aida-san, for that matter- properly and told him about these people formally, so he has no idea who they are, but they're closely allied with 3E and apparently help them in a lot of ways. It seems that Kitakawa-kun is the point of connection between these people and the rest of the class, and the Kataoka person is probably part foreign as they live abroad. Either way, the names crop up enough for Hidaka to have discerned they are of significance."

"So basically, they have someone else other than Tsukuda's lawyer aunt in their corner." Maeda summarised. Out of the corner of his eye, Hasegawa saw Otsuka take her phone out and open up a Google search. _Good girl._ Fujimura frowned at the information though.

"That sounds a little dubious though- if these people are so helpful, why doesn't he know more?"

"That's a good point, but I think it will happen, in time. They're being rather busy little bees, after all."

"Hah, 'Busy little bees!'" Maeda sniggered. Hasegawa just stared at him, which solved the issue fast enough. _I have to remember that he's an only child….._

"The first result that comes up for 'Isogai' is a page on a website for a middle school just outside this area- Imperial, it's called- that lists all its teachers. One of their second year teachers is a woman called Ikuko Isogai." Otsuka informed them.

"The Isogai Hidaka-kun has heard about is unfortunately a male, but that's good work nonetheless. Perhaps Ikuko Isogai is a wife, daughter or sister of the one in question. Did you come up with anything else for any of the other names?"

"There are some social media pages in the result listings, but I haven't opened them."

"Good, leave it that way for now." Hasegawa ordered. Otsuka exited the page and put her phone away with no comment.

"Why would you tell her to do that?" Fujimura asked, baffled.

"Because we have a better primary source of information. " Hasegawa tapped his notes meaningfully. "And one of the main things Hidaka-kun observed was that they seem to be talking about these people in relation to the upcoming midterms. "

"Ah, the mid-terms. Life goes fast. But I'm wondering if, given that, Hidaka will remain useful for any longer?" Fujimura mused.

"Well, they're apparently aiming for getting some of them on the Top 50 scores, and not just the subject specifics like a bunch of them got at the end of last term." Otsuka said.

"I kinda want to say that's hilarious, but two 3E students tied second place for maths. " Maeda lamented.

"And then that guy who got kicked down there for modelling beating out President Hasegawa in Japanese Language and then some- ah, sorry." Fujimura backpedalled rapidly, clearly afraid. Hasegawa indulged him.

"Oh, it's fine. Not such a big deal. And, Fujimura-kun, it answers your question, actually."

"Oh?"

"Because you see, Hidaka-kun has a hell of a lot of motivation to continue giving us information, especially if his grades end up….not improving, shall we say?"

"Ah, I see. Of course. Silly of me to forget that." Fujimura nodded sagely.

"Still, they're probably assuming they can bank on the luck they got there to become even better or something overinflated and stupid like all that." Otsuka said. "I'd imagine they've got a big master plan with nifty tricks and study schedules as well. We could try and covertly sabotage their library bookings, if they have any. Do they?"

As Hasegawa knew Hidaka had told him something to this effect, he quickly located the relevant note.

"A few. Not all dates confirmed, but I can give you them. Perhaps nudge some at-risk second years, give them a chance to improve enough for them to not end up in the same position next year."

"Any nifty tricks, they'll probably post on the blog anyway, to 'help' others. So that we don't need to worry about." Fujimura stated, confidence regained.

"Exactly, exactly." Hasegawa agreed vehemently. The sense of satisfaction he was feeling was immense. _This idea I had is better than I could have imagined._

"Say, are you really going to do it-well, are you really going to get Principal Okikura and the rest of the staff to do that anyway? To return him to the main campus if he gives up enough information?"

Everyone looked at Otonashi, who betrayed nothing apart from the curiosity that apparently led him to ask the question. He shrugged, then tilted his head momentarily before straightening again and elaborating.

"It is a pretty outrageous measure to take and all. "

"Why, do you not 'condone' the idea or something, straitlace?" Otsuka demanded viciously.

"Or he's just being devil's advocate. Having one of those is advantageous, right, President?"

"Exactly so, Fujimura-kun. You do not want to be too complacent." Even so, Hasegawa fixed his gaze solidly on Otonashi as he formulated an answer. It took him only a brief moment, and then he relaxed and smiled slightly. The other stared, agog.

"Well," his smile widened, becoming icy. "As long as _he_ believes it, it's fine."

* * *

 **The song in this chapter was 'Chocolate' by Sayuri. It features on the 'Mikazuki' single, and that song happened to be the Ranpo Kitan ED (and the best thing about the entire show to be honest). I might include 'Mikazuki' in this fic at some point? Or maybe 'Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no You Na', which is the ERASED ED. Not sure if I will though if I did...which one do you think I should go for?**

 **Anyway, as usual, please leave feedback!**


	44. Origami Birds

Over the course of the year so far, the funniest memories had been coming back to him at the funniest times. Like just a moment ago, when, while hiding in the forest, he spotted a stag beetle sneak across an old fallen branch. Instantly, he'd found himself no longer high up in a tree, alone, but part of a circle of fourteen and fifteen year olds, all huddled around one patch of ground, staring at two beetles fighting, placing bets on which one who would win. Bishamonten, that was the one Hinano had said would be the winner, the one Rio (who'd instigated the entire set up) had placed her latest bet on. What the reasons were, he couldn't remember.

 _And,_ he thought with a sad finality, _it is not like I can ask her._ The beetle disappeared into the autumn foliage, and he sighed with resignation, and looked at the old watch on his left wrist, setting off yet more recollections. An old one, a high-school graduation gift that Karasuma had selected and Irina had paid for, one for the each of them. He highly doubted that anybody else's looked as old as his own one did. But at least it was still working, somehow, ticking away the seconds of his life as efficiently as always.

 _Say, are you disappointed in me?_ There was a little part of him, tucked away with arms around knees, that recognised that the life he was living was not one that needed to be so. But the rest of him had unwillingly gagged that person, then locked him in a cage and then lost the key. And hadn't been able to find it again, not even after thirteen years had gone by. _Are you disappointed?_

He'd snuck into the hospital to see his former teacher, wanting to ask him that, feeling that maybe though he was asleep, some answer would be conveyed but in the end he couldn't even ask, and he was still here. Still, at least he was doing something, he felt. Looking over the children, even though they had no idea he was there for them, felt right. And in a way, he was doing right by his former classmate by watching over her son, even if he was not able to do the same for her daughter.

 _It_ is _something,_ he decided with a resolve he knew would be momentary as he hopped down from the tree and trudged deeper into the forest. He could hear the sounds of the children coming. The flower trio, and a few of the others. Since one of the voices was one he did not quite recognise, he assumed that it was one of the new 3E members- Hidaka or Aida. Probably Hidaka, given the voice was male. He wondered how they were coping, what they were like. He'd only heard a little bit of them up until now, but then again, it hadn't been long since they'd arrived.

 _But I'm watching over them too, so it's okay. It'll be okay. Besides, they've got Yuuma-kun and the others too. It'll be okay._

Finding a suitable tree, he wasted no time in getting himself up there and hidden from sight. He got himself comfortable in the branch, then arranged his battered bag in one of the nooks so it didn't fall out, and then began yet another day.

 **…**

Hana stared, agog, at the screen of Izzy's laptop as different windows and commands and other such things she didn't comprehend appeared and disappeared and reappeared all over again. From time to time, she looked down, to watch Izzy's dancing fingers create this visual cacophony.

"Ah, I got somewhere! Check this out!" The fingers slowed, but did not stop. "Just…hold on a moment…Yes, I'm in!"

"Oooh, what is it, Ii-kun?"

"I'm wondering the same myself, Izzy….ah, the Yanagisawa murder. Is this your new obsession now?"

"Nope, it isn't a new obsession at all. It's linked, I'm telling you."

"Ah, because of the culprit. They caught her almost straight away, they knew who she was." Hana remembered. "Kayano-san, her name was? And was there a boyfriend too?"

"Yeah," Izzy said. "Nagisa Oishi, an elementary school teacher, mostly teaching fifth and sixth grade. He taught at my school, and since he bears a resemblance to the school image of the Nagisa Shiota who was in the same 3E as Kaede Kayano-that is to say, the one 30 years ago-I'm thinking their the same person…not that I've verified that yet."

"Oh." Hana wasn't sure what to think of that.

"Perhaps he was involved, too. " Kuroba suggested. "After all, he disappeared, right? Straight after the trials that got her sentenced. What was her sentence again?"

"Well, it was initially the death penalty, but it got bumped down to a full life sentence. No chance of parole, or anything like that. So the end result would have been the same." This last sentence was clearly an afterthought on Izzy's part. She didn't know what to make of that, either.

"That's kinda sad…." Hana murmured. Kuroba fixed her with a disbelieving look.

"She murdered a man in cold blood. How is that even deserving of pity?"

"Now, now, Sei-Chan….." Izzy grinned teasingly, as if they were arguing about sweets or something. Kuroba just rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Izzy got back to business, minimising the spreadsheet page. For some reason, Hana wanted him to pull it up again, for she wanted to see what he'd found out about this Nagisa Oishi person. _If he was in the same 3E as Kaede Kayano, then it means he was in the same class as Isogai-san and the others._ She knew that Izzy and Kuroba must have noticed this, and she wondered why they had not said anything.

"Anyway what, Izzy?" Kuroba clicked his teeth, and Izzy leaned back in his chair and gestured at the screen. Kuroba instantly took over and started clicking.

"These…these are the reports about the murder? Crime scene, autopsy…holy shit." Kuroba whistled through his teeth, such that a few of the others in the room- Kitabayashi, Azama, Koujiro and Hirigi- looked up momentarily. But of course, they soon recovered themselves, and Hana found it almost funny.

"Yeah, impressive, huh? Well, not so much, really, because, well, these are only partial reports. Some of it's been…well…" Izzy looked at Hana, no doubt trying to figure out how to phrase it best to her. She shrugged sheepishly, a little embarrassed at how easily Izzy's hacking know-how went over her head, even now.

"I can't reach it yet, I guess. But anyway, let's read what we do have. I did manage to unearth some old online newspaper articles- they don't have enough details, but some are different to what we know already. "

They fell into silence for a while as Izzy loaded up document after document and they read through it. More than once, Hana had to cover her mouth as she read the details, particularly when it came to the autopsy report. The murder victim was a research oriented scientist called Kotaro Yanagisawa, and he had been engaged to a woman a good decade younger than him. He had been attacked at night, and indeed had died before sunrise on that fateful day. The consensus was that although he'd been approached from the front, for whatever reason, he had not seen her coming, and though there was no doubt that the time of day had contributed to this, one of the crime scene investigators-one Arata Shibata- had noted that it wouldn't have made sense that Yanagisawa hadn't seen his attacker when she'd approached, given the other characteristics of the location- behind a local old warehouse, and though it was relatively secluded, it was well lit. Any possibility that Kaede Kayano had lured him there- which wasn't too out of the realms of possibility given she seemed to have some skill at acting, according to one of the reports- was struck down by the fact that Yanagisawa routinely took that route when he made his way home each night. This meant that she had been studying his daily habits, clearly, Kuroba commented absently when he read this, only for have that deduction confirmed a few lines later.

On the night in question, she had apparently initially attacked him from the front, sending him to the ground such that he was knocked out for some of the attack. A small mercy, because when he did regain consciousness, he was being stabbed many times, mainly in the limbs, but not in a typical stabbing movement. Whatever it was she'd actually done was left to their imaginations, for that had been blacked out, or cut off completely, placed under the banner of 'Classified information' (proof there was more to the situation than just a murder case, or so Izzy claimed).  
But the next accessible parts of the crime scene and autopsy reports stated she'd used her own body weight to restrain him partially, while using a bunch of heavy everyday objects (snow globe, mug, photo frames- to Hana, the mundanity of what she'd chosen was more horrifying than if it had turned out she'd used typical torture devices) she'd somehow managed to drag from her apartment to do the rest, before leaning forward and stabbing him one final time in the heart, which mercifully finished him off. How this contributed to the fuller picture of Yanagisawa's death was also classified, but it was clear there was something more, and deeper to these details. But as the information was, the picture given was of an incoherent, senseless and violent attack.

After that, apparently, the lead up to her arrest was simple. The arrest report was clear, nothing hidden away. She'd called her boyfriend,-the elementary school teacher Nagisa Oishi- on his mobile, telling him things that didn't make any sense, but somehow managing to reveal her location. Mistakenly believing that she'd been the one in danger, he had called the police on the way there, hoping they'd get there quicker. Instead, he'd got there first, and realised that he was wrong. Once the police had finally arrived, he had tried to protect her, convinced that she'd been caught up in something beyond her understanding, but she had quickly made him give up on it, telling the arresting officers she had not been coerced into anything at all. In fact, a detective had noted that one of the few things that Kaede Kayano had divulged was that 'finally, seventeen years too late, the one who should have died did'. But they were able to glean little understanding of the crime. She revealed nothing- reasons, motives, how she'd tracked him down, how she'd managed to get the strength to kill him in such a way, which genuinely looked like a mob had flayed him. Arata Shibata noted he'd never seen so much blood at a crime scene apparently caused by one small adult female, or by any crime scene perpetrated by a single person with one victim. But the consensus was that whatever the answers were, something had happened that had caused her to flip, but in such a way that nothing could have stopped it until it was too late- not even someone who loved her. _Maybe that's why Nagisa Oishi disappeared after the trial. It's hard to see you failed at looking after someone close to your heart._

There were a few photos attached of the crime scene which hadn't been placed under classified. Izzy mercifully decided not to open them after reading the report. Instead, they looked at the photos of the woman responsible. There were a couple. One was of a young, laughing woman with medium-length green hair left down and flowing. Her honey-gold eyes were warm and laughing, and she was clinging to the arm of someone cut out of the photograph. Another, slightly older shot, showed her looking slightly more innocent around the edged, and with black, longer hair. The final photograph, a prison mugshot taken just before the day of the verdict, showed the same woman, her honey-gold eyes hard, her expression dulled, and her hair a streaky mixture of the green and the black in the previous two photos.

"Iii-kun, Ju-kun. " Hana was cold, suddenly so very, very cold, and her words barely escaped her lips.

"Okay, I'm confused, stop." Kuroba grabbed Izzy's wrist so that he didn't click away to the next thing to read. "Why are there two different people here? There was only one culprit."

He took over the laptop and looked for the accompanying information. Then, something seemed to spark in his eyes

"Haruna Mase." He pointed to the oldest picture, then moved his finger across to the one with the happy green-haired woman. "Kaede Kayano."

Then, he stopped at the mugshot.

"Both of them. One and the same. It makes sense, doesn't it?" he asked before either Izzy or Hana could object. "Haruna Mase was a child actor a generation ago, but then she retired and faded into anonymity when Isogai and co would have been in high school- she was the same age. Kaede Kayano was a drama coach, who apparently had experience as a child actor before retiring. Also, the same age."

"Ju-kun, that's a stretch." Hana protested. "Besides, didn't you find out that 'Kaede Kayano' was also an alias? Based on things you couldn't find? How can it be an alias and a real name?"

"Yes, you have a point. " Kuroba frowned at the pictures. "It's mostly the hair in the mug shot that's making me think that."

"I think I agree with Li'l Aoshima-Chan…..but with that hair, it's hard to tell what the dyed colour is and what is natural. Good dye job." Izzy grinned briefly at this, then became grim again. His eyes became flinty, the red hue going against its nature and becoming close. "Hold on, hold on. I missed something. What was it?"

Izzy's fingers picked speed up from nowhere and he opened and minimised different windows until what was left on the screen was the three photographs and their basic information, an old news article, and what looked like an official memo.

"Sei-Chan, Li'l Aoshima-Chan, have you noticed it yet? The connection between this and the blackout times?"

Knowing he was referring to the point at which there had been the abrupt media blackout regarding the case, Hana thought about it as she studied the information brought on screen. Then, she gasped, and her hands covered her mouth again. The horror of what she was learning started to hit her. _What…sort of thing happened in this class? What would make someone do something like that? And Isogai-san, Kataoka-san, Maehara-san…they know about this too, they have to have. How hurt were they, by all this?_

"Ah, when this tabloid hit the Haruna Mase connection, things went crazy, hence, the media blackout and the strict orders not to reveal any information to anyone at all. That's why it all went quiet, apart from the final page filler after the sentencing, saying that she'd been sentenced." Kuroba said this matter-of-factly. Izzy nodded.

"It also triggered this stuff being put on lock down. Just as the detailed class files about the 3E of thirty years ago are under government protection, most of the information here was. The stuff I brought up now…under the least encryption. The vital information, the stuff that holds the key to all this, is all under the same crazy protection those files are. And no doubt, the investigators on this were suddenly cut down, to keep information transmission at a minimum…do you doubt that their connected now, Sei-Chan?"

"No. Not anymore."

"What about Nagisa Oishi-san?" Hana suddenly remembered. "You said he went missing, right?"

Izzy nodded. He brought up a picture, again one that was had been taken a few years before the murder, showing a young, pensive-natured but clearly content man with bright blue hair and bright blue eyes smiling and tilting his head slightly, half surprised and half pleased to see whoever was taking the photograph. Hana had no idea why, but she found herself feeling she knew him. _I know him already. Somehow, somewhere._

"Well….that's another thing I can't seem to find much about. A missing report was filed, but it doesn't say by who. It was then withdrawn soon after, but it doesn't say who. There are no records of him doing anything in the past thirteen years, at all, though apparently, he's still on Kaede Kayano's permitted visitor list."

"How on earth did you find that one out?" Izzy shrugged at Kuroba's astonishment at this. Hana sighed, and for some reason, turned to glance out of the window. She spotted Hidaka, with Fuyumi, Jori, Ayako and Ruko, and once again, she felt herself go cold, except for a different reason. _Why does he hate us so much?_ She kept gazing wistfully as Izzy and Kuroba hashed out more of the new things they'd found out, mostly just rehashing the horrible details they'd managed to find out.

"Ii-kun, Ju-kun, let's stop this one. Let's keep looking for other things." She turned back to them, the concern about Hidaka fleeing her mind in the face of this new horror they'd found. The pleading in her voice hitched, causing them to fall silent and stare at her. She beseeched them, silently, and tried to find more words to convince them.

"Push your chair back, put your head between your knees. " Kuroba ordered her, sharply. She took in a breath, and complied shakily. She hadn't even realised she was becoming light headed, and as she stared at the floor, she wondered why it was she was so shaken. It was not just the details of the crime, but something else. Perhaps those events were a premonition for her, a sign of the worst that could become of Kei- _No, that can't be. That_ won't _be what happens. I've nearly finished his origami birds anyway. But still, they're not the same, he's not broken._

One of them- she didn't know if it was Izzy or Kuroba- put a hand on her shoulder while the wood patterns swirled, but they stayed silent as they waited. When she straightened again and the hand had left her shoulder, she was relieved to see that Izzy had cleared everything, leaving only one internet tab and the special spreadsheet he'd been using to collate his 3E-from-30-years-ago information. He was filling it now, no doubt the bits for Nagisa Oishi and Kaede Kayano.

"A…are you going to ask Tada-san, about these things?" she asked, faintly.

"I could, but we were all like, two or thereabouts when all this happened, y'know?" Izzy shrugged.

"I also somehow doubt his mother or his godfather would have divulged such things to him or his sister. And so there's no doubt the two names alone will be familiar to them, they wouldn't have met either person in question- not recently enough to remember them as people." Kuroba added.

"Mhm…that makes sense. "

"I might interrogate our mentors about it, though…. Li'l Aoshima-san, I get the feeling you'd probably hate me forever if I did that to them, right?"

Hana nodded vigorously, then reconsidered.

"Not forever. But a long time. It would not be fair to hurt them. But you could ask them about your own mother instead."

"Excuse me, what?" Izzy slow-blinked at her, and scratched his head in puzzlement. Kuroba did not look as if he understood any more than his brother did, but his expression was deeply contemplative. Grateful for the change in subject she'd provoked, Hana happily explained.

"Ii-kun, your mother was in 3E 22 years ago, right? Isogai-san and the others, they started mentoring the 3Es each year from 25 years ago to now. So they would have known your mother, even if she didn't reach out to them as much. They'd recognise her name, anyway, for sure. And I think they'd be able to tell you something about her. Maybe it'll help to understand a little more about how things turned out so that you two became brothers."

"That honestly did not occur to me." Kuroba said, an impressed note creeping into his voice.

"I….I didn't think of that either. Well, meh, knew there had to be a reason we kept you around, Li'l Aoshima-Chan!"

Hana giggled at this, just as Izzy no doubt had-in his own way- intended to be the outcome of that joke.

"Well then, message them, Izzy." Kuroba suggested. "Get a meeting in place, then you can ask."

"Yeah, I'll call them when I get home…..how long is there until lunchtime ends?"

Both Hana and Kuroba checked the time.

"Not long." Hana said.

"No, there isn't much time. Probably best for you to shut down now." Kuroba added. Izzy scrunched up his face momentarily, considering, and then gave a wolfish grin to the two of them.

"Nah," he decided breezily. "I'm going to see if I can't try break the encryption on the school related files again."

And just like that, Izzy's quick fingers got to work again. Hana and Kuroba stared at each other for a moment, incredulous. And then…

"IZZY!"

" _Ii-kun_!"

 **…**

Carefully squinting at the instructions she'd found online, Asami made the final fold, and then held out the result. It was meant to be an origami crane, just like the ones Hana had been making all year so far, but she clearly did not have an affinity for any kind of paper craft, for the beak was deformed and the wings were uneven. She fiddled about with it, adding some random extra folds she thought would mitigate the effects, but there was no masking her inadequacy.

 _Better get on with it, you can't waste time._ She needed to study, she couldn't faff around with things like this for too long, so she just decided to solder on and attempt to fold two more cranes, just as she'd planned. When she had done so, she lined up the three pitiful creations on her desk and pulled her exercise book and textbook towards her to plough through an assignment for the next half hour. Once that was done, and once she had checked it and made detailed annotations over the questions she'd made mistakes on, she swept up the three birds and left her bedroom.

She paused for a moment, staring at Kei's door. Then, she pushed it open and took a few steps into the room, surveying it.

"Oh, it's tidy."

"Are you surprised?" Kei didn't turn around, but his voice snagged on her, all the same. She narrowed her eyes at his back, and surveyed the room momentarily. She noticed the site he had open didn't look like the typical instant messaging, social media or video sharing sites Kei tended to frequent, but it was not like she could exactly go up to him and ask what he was looking at. She also noticed something on the desk, near his elbow. Some sort of booklet or pamphlet, thick and glossy. _I wonder what it is._

"Well, make sure you eat dinner when Mum brings it up." Not waiting for a response, she strode out, closed the door behind her and moved onto Hana's room. This time, she was more confident in entering, and as she did so, she held the origami birds behind her back.

"Oh, Asami." In contrast to Kei, Hana looked up almost as soon as Asami entered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. You're studying?" A slightly stupid question, given that Hana was sitting at her desk, with a textbook open as she made notes, but she found herself unable to think of a better way to start the conversation. Hana, however, did not call her out on this, but just smiled appealingly as she shut the book and focussed fully on Asami.

"Well, mid-terms, right?" Hana shrugged. Asami nodded, then went to sit on Hana's bed.

"Yeah, of course. You've got a lot to live up to, given that you managed to get second in maths across the year last term." Asami, loath as she was to admit it, could hardly believe that her sister had managed to achieve that. Sure, Hana was smart but…. _I assumed wrong. It's become a common theme with me._ She shook her head, aware that Hana was giving her an odd look.

"Are you aiming higher this time? " She asked instead. Hana frowned as she considered this, but then she nodded firmly.

"We're trying to get ourselves onto the overall top 50. All of us. Ii-kun and Ju-kun, they'll definitely be able to do it-they were honour students, you know-but me…I'm not so sure."

 _Ii-kun and Ju-kun? Who are they?_ She still did not know much about Hana's life now. She had mentioned these two people multiple times, and all Asami had been able to gather was that they were male classmates who were important to Hana. She knew whoever Hana was talking about whenever she talked about the three class representatives, for example, or a couple of the others such as Fuyumi Yukimura and Reimiya Kuroyama, but these two, she didn't know. Admittedly, part of that was down to the distance that had grown between them previously, but she was trying to close it now, so she didn't get how she still did not know these things.

"Uh. Ii-kun and Ju-kun?" _Ah, screw it. I'll ask._ Hana's eyes widened.

"Yeah, Izaya Arisato-kun and Seijuro Kuroba-kun. Ii-kun and Ju-kun. Ii-kun tied with me, last term."

Asami face palmed at this, instantly remembering. _I am SUCH a moron. Focus, Asami!_ Hana giggled at her.

"Ah, right. Yeah, like I said, you'll need to keep at it if you want to get on those rankings. They're really drilling us for these midterms over on the main campus, you know?"

"I know, Asami. We're meeting up over the next week, studying in groups and helping each other. I've been prepping for that. Though-"

"Hana, if you say you don't think it'll do anything good for you, I will _destroy_ you." Asami interrupted instantly. "Aren't the results of the last end-of-terms enough evidence against something like that? Not even for you only, but the whole class, too? I mean, you two weren't the only ones who got into subject-based Top 50s!"

"Yeah…I suppose you have a point."

"And anyway, I want you to do well, too. It's what you need to…uh; make the project work, right?"

"It's a brick, yes."

Now it was Asami's turn to give Hana an odd look. Hana just blinked patiently and innocently at her, and Asami's shoulders slumped in defeat. _I am just assuming a metaphor of some sort and swiftly moving on…..._

"Anyway, the point I was trying to make is I'm not going to hold back because of that. I'm fully intending on reaching the top and if that means beating you all, then so be it." _And the Virtuosos. I want to triumph over them, too._

"Tell Yukiyama-kun that, won't you? I am _not_ getting beaten by three points this time around." Asami said this lightly, hoping the lame joke she'd attempted to make of it would work, and when Hana giggled, she breathed a sigh of relief. _Now, for the big bit._

"But while that is being said….I do hope you'll all get what you want with these mid-terms so….here."

Looking down at her lap, Asami pulled the birds out from behind her and held them out for Hana to inspect. Hana reached out and picked up one curiously. She turned it from side to side, inspecting it, and Asami felt herself shrinking. No doubt Hana had spotted all the mistakes she'd made, and possibly even some that Asami hadn't even noticed. _Stupid idea…._

"You _made_ these for me?"

"Meh, I suppose. I'm not an art head like you or Dad, but well, I figure making 2000 birds takes up a hell of a lot of time, so I may as well help the effort, you know….?" _Shut up, you're babbling._ Hana stared at her, confused, and then picked up the two other birds. She gazed at each one in turn, and then gathered them to her, somehow managing not to squash them as she did so.

"Asami-Chan, thank you!" She put the birds down on the desk, and then almost leapt over to squeeze Asami in a hug. She sputtered, and then awkwardly patted her sister's back before she let go again, and turned to put them away in one of the boxes their father had brought around the last time he'd visited.

"Well," Asami, still a little abashed, got up. "I don't want to waste our time, so I'll go now. Make sure you come down for dinner."

"Mhmm."

Asami walked to the bedroom door and opened it. But just as she stepped out, she stopped and turned, something occurring to her.

"Hey, Hana?"

"What is it, Asami?"

"I…well, I know that one of your wishes that you're making the birds for is for Ending the End Class to work out….but what is the second one?"

Hana said nothing to this, and instead just turned, and Asami followed her gaze to the wall that connected Hana's room and Kei's, and suddenly, nothing needed to be said. _Hana…_

Feeling herself well up a little, Asami just nodded briskly, and then closed the door behind her before heading back to her room and her studies. Again, on the way she stopped at Kei's door, but did not open it this time. Instead, she just stared before moving on again. _There are things we need to work towards._

* * *

 **The scene about the stag beetle that had bets placed on it can be credited to the fanfic 'War on Boredom' by Colorslander, as I lifted and adapted it from there. I will most likely be incorporating other scenes from that fic into this one too, in later chapters.**


	45. What Are You Doing?

**So, I've been freaking out about exams that are coming up next month, and the big research project I'll have to do next year as part of my degree, and as a result, I've been procrastinating in the form of writing, to the point I've had an insane amount of output recently. Hence, this early update for you! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **((By the way, I am in no way advocating that you should procrastinate. Though it is hypocritical for me to say this, it isn't a good thing at all (though taking breaks to refresh/ calm down is important). Also, if May is an exam period for any of you, then I wish you the best of luck!))**

* * *

Kei waited until he was sure that nobody-i.e. his mother or his sisters- were not hovering around his room door, and then went over to take his dinner tray, bringing it back to the desk. He shifted his things so that he could comfortably eat while typing, the process almost automatic. It was a skill he had managed to become fairly proficient at, but hardly one he'd trumpet to the world, assuming that he was in a world that would want to hear him anyway. _I'm not in that sort of world._

Sticking a mouthful of food absently into his mouth, he found another video to play on YouTube, in the background, and then flicked through the other tabs he had open, wondering which message board to spend some time pretending on. But his gaze flickered to the teacher training pamphlet, and the wad of notes he'd tucked into the pages, and knew he would be going to the one place on the internet where he did not have to pretend (at least, not to the same extent he did everywhere else).

 _I wonder if that person is online?_ He tended to lurk on this site more than actually participating in any chat threads or posting things, but he had somehow, without even trying, found himself chatting to someone who called themselves 'DoubleI'. Apparently, the person was a young teacher, who'd been teaching middle schoolers for a couple of years. He'd revealed that he was a third year high-schooler, but not that he wasn't actually going to school, but he'd also talked about the idea of starting a new school, or at least being a teacher, and so they had exchanged all sorts of ideas and debates. So he was pleased to see when their chat box popped up on the screen.

 _DoubleI:_ _Hey there, are you allright?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Yeah, sure. :) I just had dinner, you?_

Kei figured that saying that he was eating dinner while typing would clue the other person into his sorry state, so he had twisted the truth, just a little, as he continued to shovel more food into his mouth.

 _DoubleI:_ _I'm just marking work, and getting a little distractible. Its maths, so there isn't much room for interesting or funny answers._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _My sister would probably disagree- she really likes maths =P. Like, REALLY._

 _DoubleI:_ _You have a sister?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Two, actually, but only one of them likes maths._

 _DoubleI:_ _Same here! About the sisters, not the maths. I have two sisters too, but I don't think either of them like OR hate maths XD. Probably for the best, considering. My class clearly hate maths, if the work I'm marking is anything to go by._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _So, they're struggling?_

 _DoubleI:_ _Yeah…a lot. I'm probably going to have to re-cover some of the material in the next lessons._

 _DoubleI:_ _Possibly give some extra homework, too. O.o_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Oh dear, that doesn't sound like that'll be good for them. *shocked face* Still, you're going to make it so that it'll be helpful, right?_

 _DoubleI:_ _*mock anger* Ahem, what do you take me for? Of course! Admittedly, loads of them are making the same mistakes, so the sheets probably won't end up so different after all….actually, no, I take that back._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Huh?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Hello?_

It took a moment for Kei to realise that 'DoubleI' was clearly no longer looking at their screen, so he shrugged and continued to work through his food solidly, thinking of nothing in particular as he munched, later going to find a new playlist to listen to after the one he had been listening to finished. He had nearly demolished it all when a new message popped up.

 _DoubleI:_ _Sorry about that, I had to take a moment to recover._

Kei waited patiently for the clarification.

 _DoubleI:_ _So, I have a pair of twins in my class, they're fraternal twins, but they look very alike, sound pretty similar, and are close to each other. I think you get the idea. I had just finished with the first twin's work and moved onto the second one when I had started talking to you, and I just realised that their answers are basically mirror images of each other XD_

 _DoubleI:_ _Not the same, but the exact opposite, like it was…I don't know, flipped in a mathematical mirror? It's not like it was an elaborate cheating scheme, because I don't have them sitting next to each other, and they were both got every question wrong, pretty much, but the way these answers are so scarily similar in this sense I don't know what to make of it._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _That is_

 _IStillHaveDreams_ : _weird. Really weird. Perhaps it is a twin thing?_

 _DoubleI:_ _Perhaps….oh well, doesn't matter. I'll figure something out. Kinda wish it was social studies I was dealing with. I'd be blitzing those sheets. Unfortunately, they're too good at it. My fault, probably._

 _IStillHaveDreams_ : _So, your speciality is social studies?_

 _DoubleI:_ _Yeah. And I'm the club adviser for the school's psychology club and current issues club, since I'm interested in that sort of thing too._

 _IStillHaveDreams_ _: ….current issues?_

 _DoubleI:_ _Sure. It's kinda a distant cousin of a typical debating club though, really. I get to show off a bit, which is fun._

 _DoubleI:_ _So, anyway, what about you? What sort of clubs would you be good at advising, do you think?_

Kei did a double take at this, unsure how to respond to the direct question. Though it was just a set of words on a screen, he felt probed. Examined, pierced. He had ideas, but what was the point of them. _Ah, I should put something at least._ And so that was what he did, finding that once again, he was being just a little more honest.

 _IStillHaveDreams: I used to be on the track team in my middle school, though that was ages ago now, and I doubt I remember how to run. And I really like poetry, especially when it is spoken poetry. Debating, too. And theme parks, though could you really make a school club centring on theme parks?_

 _DoubleI_ : _In the world of school clubs, almost anything is possible. As long as there's no sex or violence._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Well, obviously, haha! :D_

 _DoubleI:_ _Still, you seem pretty diverse in your interests. Open minded, passionate. So, if you don't mind me asking, who are you trying to convince?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Excuse me?_

Kei's chopsticks clattered into the bowl, an outside reflection of the noise rising in his head. Once again, the sense of being probed, examined, seen into by someone he had never met. Rapidly, he got up and went to open the window. It was cold and windy, but that was fine. Perhaps that air would help him cool down in mind, rather than in body. That helped a little, and so he went back to see how his online friend would explain themselves.

 _DoubleI:_ _Why does your username say you 'still' have dreams? As in, despite something else, you're holding onto them anyway? And you have such good dreams as well- some of the ideas we've talked about before, they're so good for a high schooler, as if you're working towards your calling. So, it's just a hunch on my part, really, but I'm thinking that there's something wrong._

 _DoubleI:_ _So, what's wrong then?_

 _DoubleI:_ _…was that too direct? Or is my hunch wrong?_

 _DoubleI:_ _If it is, I'm sorry. I tend to go in all guns blazing when I think something isn't right with my students, and even though you're supposed to be older and this is just an online chat on a teacher's forum, I guess I'm having the same response._

 _DoubleI:_ _Are you still there, IStillHaveDreams?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _I am here. And…I lied a little bit. I haven't attended high school. I've not left my room for the past year._

 _DoubleI:_ _Ah._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _And leading up to that, I didn't leave the house. I'm a hikkikomori._

There it was. He'd admitted it boldly, dispassionately. He'd put down his pretences, and the cold air did nothing to soothe the fear that came with it. _They'll go away. They'll say that I have no right to be creating plans for my teaching career and a new school system if I cannot even go to school and get qualifications._ It would only confirm what he already knew, and he was resigned to that.

 _DoubleI:_ _So?_

This was the last thing that Kei had been expecting to see in the screen.

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _So, there's no point. I've failed in life, but I still have these dreams I refuse to let go of. It's simple, isn't it?_

 _DoubleI:_ _I am sorry, but I have to disagree. After all this, do you really think I give up on people so easily? Being a shut-in is not some irreversible thing. You'll be able to overcome it, with some effort. That, and it is still possible for you to gain the high school certificate without going to school. You still study, don't you?_

'DoubleI' then proceeded to fire off some links before waiting for the answer. Kei quickly bookmarked them all. Then, he answered, again truthfully, for he had been studying some since re-remembering Isogai and the others, though he hadn't really known why he was doing it. At the very least, it had been an alternative to the way he'd been spending his days until then, for some of the chat forums could get awfully repetitive at times. But now, he was starting to wonder if maybe there _would_ be a use to his pointless endeavours. The taste of the cookie welled up in his mouth again, oddly comforting, as real as if he was actually eating it and not just remembering it, and because of it he found himself snagging the notes he'd made and taking a closer look at them as he continued the chat.

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Yes, I have._

 _DoubleI:_ _There you go! Now, I really need to finish this marking, have dinner then sleep before dealing with my crazy class tomorrow. But I'll be back, and we'll still be talking about this, alright? Goodnight._

 _IStillHaveDreams_ _:…goodnight then, DoubleI-san_

As 'DoubleI' logged out, so did he, and he closed all his other chat forum tabs, only to open up his email account, almost on autopilot, mind spinning. He loaded up a new message page, and typed in Isogai's email address…and then he just left it there. _What do I say?_ Leaving it blinking, he took up the empty tray and went to leave it outside before scuttling back in and working on his notes, adding new things and editing others.

Time passed. Someone came and quietly collected his tray, and then soon after Asami burst in long enough to remind him to take a shower before he went to bed, as if he'd needed reminding (in truth, he probably did, but even so). He then waited until everyone else was finished before indeed following this order. And when he came out, rather than scurrying back to his self-imposed prison, he found himself walking slowly. He looked at the doors of the upstairs rooms, and the wallpapers, properly, for the first time in ages. _I'd forgotten what my own upstairs landing looked like._ A little dazed, he walked past his room and stopped at the banisters, looking down at the stairs. They seemed to stretch onwards, endless and scary, leading into an abyss, but despite himself, he stared at it a little longer. Then, when he could bear it no more, he padded back into his room and back to his computer.

The email screen blinked at him a little more. Once again, he asked himself what he should say. He clicked onto the subject line, and after a moment, tentatively typed in 'I need some help'. But that, he found, was all he could say, and so he saved the message as a draft before shutting down his computer. Then, with new words, ideas and wild possibilities swimming around and leaping about in his head, he stumbled over to his bed, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and his eyes shut.

 **…**

"See you later, Yukiyama-kun!"

After a few more such farewells chimed in, Yukiyama looked up from where he was waging battle with his bag, and looked up to see Tada, Tsukuda and a few others at the door of the classroom, ready to go. He appreciated how they seemed to know he wasn't joining them, and so he smiled as he nodded his own goodbye to them and then returned his focus on the bag.

After a few more moments, the exercise books he needed that night final slid into place and allowed him to close his bag. _Finally. Why the hell weren't they fitting in the first place? Ah, well._ He slung the bag lazily on his shoulder and ambled his way out of the classroom. Though the ante was being upped, what with the second mid-terms of the year breathing down their necks, he was not too worried. Well, he was nervous, but for some reason, he didn't feel like he needed to fear failing.

 _Because I have other reasons I want to do well._ Hiro's face was the first thing that came to mind, and then it was followed closely by some of the faces of the other class members. Then there was that shop, the art shop they'd got their advertisement posters made. Hiro had taken him there recently, and if ever there was proof of good in the world, then that place was that proof. _Many, many reasons._ He smiled to himself as he advanced down the hill, but his good mood was shattered as someone collided into his back.

"A-Ah, s-sorry!"

And just like that, the bad mood that had replaced the good mood also shattered, and he was left with a sense of resignation. It was honestly no use feeling annoyed towards someone like Hidaka. Admittedly because it was just easier given the new boy's pitifulness, rather than because of the person having someone in their corner who could be fierce when defending them (such as Reimiya), or because of the person being so mild and sweet being annoyed with them was tantamount to homicide (like when confronted with the sweetness of Hana), or even because the person had a relation to someone else important to him (namely, Tada, as he was Hiro's brother). Hidaka was just….a sorry state, if anything. Not that Yukiyama cared that much, either way.

So as he turned, he sighed and was about to use the smallest amount of words possible to tell the newer boy to not worry about it when he was brought up short by the look that his eyes latched upon. Yukiyama froze mid-turn, startled.

 _Hate. He hates me._ It did not make a whole lot of sense, but that flash that seemed to make Hidaka's eyes vibrant for just a moment was definitely contempt in the most visceral of flavours. And short-lived too, for it went almost as fast as it had appeared, but Yukiyama had no doubt that it was still there. The assertion that had come with the hateful look also disappeared, and now Hidaka was shuffling and looking away, as if trying to avoid the situation. Now, as Yukiyama turned to face him completely, he huffed in audible annoyance. _What new nonsense will I have to deal with now?_

"What's the problem?"

"E-Eh?"

"You don't like me."

Hidaka's eyes snapped up to meet his again, wide and fearful. Yukiyama fixed him with an annoyed look.

"I-I-I didn't s-s-ay anyth-thing." He stammered out, fidgeting. _If you don't want to have this conversation, then just exit the area, for crying out loud._ Of course, Hidaka didn't do this, so Yukiyama replied to the weak protest.

"You didn't need to." He was brisk. "So, what did I do?"

Just like that, it came back again. Something about Hidaka straightened, though he still looked as lost and frail as always. A slight breeze passed them, and ruffled their hair. Yukiyama left his alone, but Hidaka had to brush away his burnt-copper locks from his eyes, but he still faced him starkly.

"You, all of you, 3 _E_ students." The words were spat out, and they would have been laughable if they weren't so vicious, not to mention illogical. _Well, this is a bit of a contrast._

He glanced around, wondering if anyone else was around, someone who could witness the sheer lack of sense he was embroiled in. But everyone was a lot further than they were (most probably on the streets already), and they were further down enough such that Azama and Kitabayashi, who were on cleaning duty that day, would not have been able to hear or see them. _Just get this over and done with, Saito._

"Are you not one too? We're classmates, after all."

"N-not true. I'm _not_ a 3E s-student. And I'm c-c-certainly n-n-not _you_."

 _Huh?_ Yukiyama tried to think of the times he would have interacted with Hidaka. Probably next to none. He'd only need the smallest finger on his hand to account for such times. And, though he could not quote himself on it, Hidaka had been in the same class as him last year, but even then, their interactions would have been non-existent. So in the end, there was nothing at all that Yukiyama could think of that could justify a specific hatred towards him, and so he remained silent, waiting Hidaka out. Apparently, this was effective, for he soon added an explanation, in the same hissing tones his newly revealed anger had been expressed in.

"N-no, I'm not you at a-a-all, thinking th-that y-you're _better_ than a 3E s-s-st-tudent and that y-you a-a-are _worthy_ of wooing and h-having better than you. I'm _nothing_ like you, y-you despicable excuse of a m-man."

His body shook a little as he said all this. But Yukiyama paid little attention to this, for suddenly he knew what it was, what had caused this. _Chihiro. Hiro._ He glared at Hidaka, sparing nothing in the look, wanting him to understand. That, and he wanted to exit, because dealing with stupid jealousy was just, well, stupid. Not to mention far too tiring. _Chihiro, I didn't think that this kind of thing came into the bargain of dealing with people._

"No, I'm not like you. But probably because I happen to know that I don't 'have' Chihiro. If anything, _she_ has _me_. And it is something I am grateful for."

He did not wait for any kind of response- he did not want it. Instead, he fixed his gaze forward and continued down the hill.

 **…**

 _Ah, brilliant timing!_ When he spotted Hidaka coming up the hill, Aida close behind, Tada took his opportunity. He'd been waiting too long to properly give them details about Isogai and the others, which was not right of him to do. Especially not with the mid-terms. Frankly, they all needed the help that they could get.

"Aida-Chan, Hidaka-kun, good morning! Could I have a moment, please? "

"What for?" Aida raised an eyebrow at him, but overtook Hidaka and came over to hear what he had to say. Hidaka, on the other hand, looked nervous. More than nervous.

"A-Are we i-in t-trouble?"

"Oh, no, no, but I just wanted to let you know of something that sort of relates to the midterms. I-or even Eriko-Chan or Hanae- probably should have told you, but anyway, I think you might have heard that we have some people who're helping us this year?"

Even as he said this, he wondered if it was the right idea.

" _Tada-san, I have a bad feeling about them. I'm not sure the fact they arrived is a good idea."_

" _What do you mean, Fuyumi-Chan?"_

" _I don't know…if I was sure then maybe this would be easy to say but…it will end badly for us, if we're not careful."_

"Yeah, I know. You've been bandying around the names a little. They're like your mentors or something? It's not school based, is it?" Aida said. "That wouldn't really make much sense."

"Well, "Tada laughed a little at this. "I guess it is school based, but not in the way you're thinking, Aida-Chan. All three of them are former 3E students. They've been doing this for most of the other 3Es between them and us, reaching out to them and helping them. You know, they type of help that 'people like us' wouldn't get otherwise. Yuuma-san and the others are good people."

"Sure sounds like it." Aida remarked flippantly, though she didn't look like she was sneering at the idea.

"But, I haven't met them y-yet…..I-I mean, w-we h-haven't met them, y-yet?" Hidaka queried.

"No, and I should have organised it earlier, like I said, and I am sorry for that." Tada explained. "But given that we've got the mid-terms coming up and we're all aiming pretty high with those, I decided to actually get myself into gear. So, I talked to Yuuma-san on the phone yesterday, and I set up a meet for tomorrow after school, with Hiroto-san too. If Megu's free she'll probably Skype in on Hiroto-san's laptop or something. It'll be a study session, too."

"They help you with that stuff, too?"

"Sure they do!"

"I-Isn't i-it….c-couldn't t-they g-get into trouble t-though?" Hidaka tilted his head, concerned but clearly interested. Tada considered this. _Ending badly for us….but...wouldn't that make me a hypocrite, if I singled them out like that, and ostracised them? If I did that, I would be no better than what we're trying to defeat. I don't want them to suffer for having helped us all…..but I need to trust._

"I suppose so. But that's really why we don't tell anyone else about them, except people we know we can trust. Like, we have a few allies in the main campus, for example. And other former 3E members I know."

"I guess kudos to them. It's nice of them, to go to the trouble." Aida decided. "But, I'm gone as soon as I pass, so I don't really think I need them."

"You're still a member of this class!"

When both Aida and Hidaka just gave him an odd stare, Tada's shoulders slumped.

"At least, until you go." He said, a measure more calmly. Aida narrowed her eyes at him and then shrugged. It seemed as if she'd been thinking about something deeply and that she'd finally come to a significant conclusion about it.

"Perhaps I'll meet them then. Just the once."

"Cool, awesome. Here, I'll give you both their contact details as well. I got permission from them all, so don't worry about that." He fished in his pocket for the folded sheets he'd written the details on, one for Aida, and one for Hidaka. He handed them out, and Aida pocketed hers casually while Hidaka opened the sheet hesitantly.

"T-T-Tada-kun….y-you s-s-said th-that t-they've b-been d-doing this for a long time?" Hidaka asked. "H-Ho-How long?"

"Well, they were in the 3E of thirty years ago, and they started doing this-well, properly- around 26 years ago."

"Well hell, they're fixated." Aida remarked. "Still, like I said, kudos to them."

"So h-how d-do y-you k-k-know them?"

"You're nosy today, Hidaka." Aida remarked, her caustic side coming out. Tada startled at it, wondering why it was she directed this towards Hidaka. On his part though, Hidaka just stared at her with wide, astonished eyes, and did not bother to defend himself. Tada decided to just answer him, get this situation out of the way, then maybe Aida wouldn't be targeting stammering boy unnecessarily.

"They were classmates of my mother. In 3E in particular." He said simply. Hidaka's jaw dropped open.

"W-What, y-your d-dead m-mother?!"

"Do you think he has any other mothers, you idiot?!" Aida snapped.

"I-I t-that's n-not w-what I-I meant!" Hidaka protested this time. Tada visibly face-palmed.

"It's fine, no offence taken." He chose not to actually answer Hidaka's question, as Aida _did_ have a point in calling it stupid. She just huffed.

"Well, I'm going into class."

"Alright then, Aida-Chan." Tada said to her retreating form. He tried to think of something to say to Hidaka, when he spotted Hanae coming.

"I'll talk to you later, alright, Hidaka-kun?"

"S-sure." He said. Tada nodded, and then strode over to greet Hanae, their hands tangling for a moment before returning to their sides. Tada shuffled so he would be in step with her as they walked around to Kinomoto and the flowers.

"I told them, about Yuuma-san and the others." Tada commented.

"Ah, did you? At least that's done, then. Now you won't feel so bad, right?"

"Meh, I guess. I'm still thinking about what Fuyumi-Chan said though…"

"Me too, to be honest. It makes me itch, kind of. I want to find out what's going to hurt us and then just stop it. Quash it. You know. But then we don't know what it even is or what it even means…." Tsukuda trailed off.

"I know." Tada reached for her hand again and held onto it more firmly, and her fingers grasped back as they got to the flowers.

"Morning, Kinomoto-kun, Tsuwabuki-kun, Haru-Chan!" Tada greeted. "Need any help?"

"Oh, good morning!" Haru greeted. "Don't worry about it, we're good."

"Then, we'll just sit here and stare at you until it's time to go in," Tsukuda said cheerily. "Right, Tada?"

"Wouldn't word it like that, exactly, but yeah." Tada chuckled. Tsukuda used her free hand to poke him in the cheek in mock-annoyance, then laughed as he laughed. Then, they sat down and watched their classmates with the flowers.

 **…**

Hidaka stepped carefully as he went with the rest of the boys to put their school clothes away in the classroom once they'd finished changing for P.E. They were making use of 'their' forest today, to play what was apparently their version of hide-and-seek, with Fuyumi being in charge of keeping a track on who was finding, who was found, and who was still hidden during the course of the game. Apparently they did not do it often, according to Tsukuda, but when they did, it was great. Really fun, Reimiya had earnestly informed him.

And apparently, according to more than one of his new (but definitely temporary) classmates, there was a ghost in that forest, too.

Hidaka did not much relish the idea of bumping into something otherworldly in the forest, but he didn't care. What he saw in this game was an opportunity. He had been clinging onto and memorising the contact details that Tada had given him for their so called 3E mentors Yuuma Isogai, Megu Kataoka and Hiroto Maehara. When Hidaka had first told Hasegawa about the names he'd been overhearing, he had been very, very interested to know more, and so he'd been straining for ages to try and find out more. Clearly, this was information of the type Hasegawa really wanted, enough to pay his way out of this hell hole he didn't belong to. _Though,_ is _it a hell hole, Rikio?_

It was a question he ignored as he made a show of folding his clothes and putting them away as neatly as possible. He would get out of this pit, and as soon as possible. With actual concrete evidence of the 3E mentors, with the revelation that Tada's _mother_ had been a 3E student once too and so many other things he'd squirreled away, he was sure that he would be out of 3E by the end of the midterms. _I'm sure of it._ All he had to do was take advantage of the moment that the class had foolishly handed to him by deciding to make this P.E. lesson their game. If ever there was a circumstance for contacting Hasegawa mid-week, this was it.

So, he took a breath, and looked around to make sure that neither Kuroba, Yukiyama nor Reno in particular were nearby-especially Yukiyama, given the recent confrontation they'd had. Then, he unfolded out his blazer again, found his phone, and drew it out slowly. Setting it on his chair, he refolded the blazer, then put it away with his other clothes. He then grabbed his phone, hand closing around it, and looked around one more time. Again, nobody was paying attention to him, which should have relieved him. But instead, he was shaky. _What are you doing?_ The phone felt, for a moment, impossibly heavy, and a little cold, too. He stared down at it, before getting up slowly. He regarded the room as he did so, pitting it against the classrooms of the main campus in his mind.

 _Oh, you_ know _what you are doing._

He gripped the phone even tightly, and carefully slipped it in his pocket. Then, he left the classroom.


	46. The Sound of Shattering Glass

**I'm annoyed at my computer/ internet. I had to use the copy-paste method of uploading this chapter's document rather than the file upload way because of it being awkward and not responding when I pressed it. Grrr.**

 **In other news, yesterday was World Book Night 2016. The library where I work on Saturdays was doing a free book giveaway, which was quite cool. Did any of you have anything going on in your areas in relation to WBN?**

 **Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please leave feedback!**

* * *

Hearing the sounds of their laughter, he took to the trees instantly, and retreated. It looked like it would be time for another hide-and-seek game, and he wanted to watch it like he'd been watching over the children all this time. But he did not want a repeat of before; he did not want to scare them or anything like that. So he headed to the one area he knew they had not discovered yet- the old swimming pool. He knew precisely which tree would afford him the best view of them, even if it was a distant birds-eye one, and so he could stay there without fear, on both their part and his. _Even if it gets lonely, I won't sing out loud. I'll just remember the words in my head._

So he rushed as quietly as possible, hoping that none of them would see him as he made his way to the hiding place. There were still the sounds of laughter, but also whispers, squeals, imperious orders barked out and the occasional annoyed explanations of the children tripping over or stumbling into things. They all reached him, and to his sensitive ears were beautifully clear, even as he went further and further away. It made him smile, for as much as their antics reminded him of the class he had been in, it also reminded him how fundamentally different they were- for although he had loved his 3E, he would not have inflicted it upon anyone else. _It was a different world for us. We were never_ just _middle schoolers, not after all that. But they_ are _. That's how it should be for them, even though they're embarking on a dizzying youth of their own._

Getting to the area he needed to be in, he took a risk and jumped to the ground, before sprinting across to get to the tree he was going to hide in and shimmying up it. It took him a few moments to settle himself on the right branch, but then he found the right way to distribute his weight, and he relaxed, looking across over the forest with the oddest sense of satisfaction, here on his own. _I am doing something to keep them safe. I am._ And so, he continued to watch over the children, to see what they would be getting up to this time around.

 **…**

When he lost sight of Reimiya, it was all Reno could do to not curse out loud and get himself caught by Jori, who was nearby, pursuing the hapless Yamada, who had brushed by him moments ago, oblivious to the fact she had done so. Swallowing the annoyed words, he decided to follow Jori instead, to see if maybe she'd end up tailing someone who would be near Reimiya. The forest was pretty vast, and he didn't want her to get lost. And he didn't want anyone to find her by sneaking up on her, either. Kuroba was the worst offender in this regard, he knew, turning the sneaks into full-on ambushes, and he knew that she'd probably be very scared if he tried that this time. So maybe Kuroba had been the one to find her during the last whole-class hide-and-seek and she'd been none the worse for it, but that had been cut because of the ghost and so it was not the same at all.

Jori caught up with Yamada, and caught her with a wry comment and a hand on the shoulder, then began to escort her back down, so Reno abandoned following them. More curse words and other choice expressions of annoyance had to be clamped down as he dove behind a tree to avoid Eriko, then advanced uphill to the area where he thought he'd last seen Reimiya head to, Akira following on nearby.

"Argh!"

Reno jumped, nearly tripping over, and rolled behind a rock to listen. He peeked over it, but could only see limbs and the flashing blue of P.E kit.

""Kuroba-kun, did you need to be quite so sneaky? I almost got a heart attack!" The voice was distinctly male- Tsuwabuki's. He sounded more than slightly peeved.

"You're too jumpy. All of you are so neurotic, actually. But the point is, you've been caught. Go back to Yukimura now."

"Yes, yes, I know that!" Tsuwabuki's figure knelt down to gather what could only be digging equipment and Reno sweat-dropped slightly at that. _Seriously? That must be why he got caught!_ But Tsuwabuki was wandering away even as he thought this, and Kuroba looked as if he was going to amble forwards when he whipped around suddenly, as if he had heard something, and suddenly he whipped off in the opposite direction. Reno shook himself at that, and started walk-running to follow him. Soon, however, he was completely and frustratingly out of sight.

 _If Kuroba-san does anything to her…Argh! Perhaps I should have volunteered to be a 'finder' this time. Why on earth didn't I?_ In all honesty, he knew that answer. It was because he enjoyed this entire process, this game. It was fun trying to hide so that nobody could find him, hoping to be the winner, just the silliness of it all. And he knew that Reimiya liked it even more. Her small frame lent her an advantage in this sort of game, but she got an innate enjoyment out of it anyway. Which was good. As far as he was concerned, she deserved to enjoy everything she could, and more besides that. He slowed in his pursuit, and wondered about this. He definitely needed to keep an eye, make sure nothing happened to her. But if he was too zealous, then he might end up leading one of the 'finders' to her, and that would ruin her fun. It was a depressing thought for him, as he ducked beneath some bushes.

He carefully poked a hole through the leaves and twigs, and stared through, watching as Ruko snuck behind two boys, camera the ready. It was unclear who it was she was tailing, but either way, she was in no danger of being caught herself. Judging by the cat-got-the-cream-grin that she was wearing, Ruko knew this too. Reno shook his head at that, and waited a moment, evaluating his surroundings before wriggling out of the bushes. By the time he came out, the boys had split up and Ruko had long gone. Jori used her skills to swing fearlessly from one tree to another right above Reno's head, somehow not noticing him. When the reason for this proved to be the discovery of Ayako ("Aww, man, can't you pretend you _didn't_ find me yet, Kasai-san?!"), Reno breathed a sigh of relief. _I'm probably winning. I have no idea how many of us have been found by now, but I'm doing well._

 _Okay, where next?_ He edged forward in a random direction, and then walked faster, keeping to the trees and bushes, and ducking down rapidly whenever he thought he spotted one of the 'finders' nearby. He didn't pass many of the others, funnily enough, but when he saw Akira she nodded once at him before disappearing into a bush. Reimiya was not with her, which made him a little troubled, but it did make a certain kind of sense. _I wish I knew where she was though. I'd rest easier if I just had a general ide-wait, what?_

Going back behind the tree he'd just ventured from, he stared. He was fairly sure that the boy moving shiftily was Hidaka. He was almost skulking, back hunched, looking left and right, front and behind, with one hand in his pocket and the other constantly brushing his hair away from his face, which seemed more trembly than usual. Some of it would make sense, given the context. Except that Hidaka did not look as if he was making any special efforts to hide, to the point that Reno wondered how he had not been found yet. Instead, he was just advancing in his odd way, as if trying to find the deepest and most isolated part of the forest. It got his back up, almost instantly. And he knew full well it was because of the interest this boy had expressed in Reimiya. He had boldly told her that she had pretty eyes- which was true, but not actually the point- and had since then been mooning over her. Reimiya herself seemed bemused by this, but had seemed to tolerate the stammering new boy's presence whenever he approached them. For that reason, Reno hadn't torn his head off. But he had stared the boy down, scrutinising him whenever he crossed paths with him, but he had found nothing that would justify him diving in and making sure Hidaka never even breathed in the direction of his precious sister again. Not a single bit of evidence, just his annoyance and the occasional instance when something intangible made the hairs on the back of his neck go up.

Until now, that was.

 _What do you want to do, confess to her and make her yours? Use her? Something else completely? Just because she's sweet and tiny, doesn't make her an easy target, you know. You're not good enough for Miya-Chan, so don't even try it._ Seeing Hidaka skulk around made all the things he had wanted to say to Hidaka on the first day of his arrival bubble up, with more questions and reprimands following. _Are you trying to follow her? Think you've got a chance with her in this forest? Well, you don't! Don't spoil her happiness by involving that kind of mess into this game._

As Hidaka gradually retreated from his sight, Reno clenched his fist. Even if Hidaka's actions had nothing to do with Reimiya, the fact was they were still suspicious, and still proved he had no right hoping for her. So, he steeled himself and made a decision. _I'll follow Hidaka-san, instead._ Before Hidaka could completely disappear from his vision, he moved forward with confident strides, pursuing him to wherever he'd go.

 **…**

Reimiya stifled a giggle as she slid out of Eriko's line of sight just in time and found a little nook between a tree and a cluster of rocks. Folding herself in, she bent her head and hoped the foliage was enough to disguise her scarf. It was an impediment to hiding, as it was so bright, but she didn't know what she'd do without it. Even with the fleece zipped right up to the top and hiding her chin, she shivered silently as well. Still, she had various tricks up her sleeves, so she'd use them. Akira had managed to get herself caught a few moments ago, by Eriko, so she was pretty much by herself in that regard. Well, apart from Reno. She had a feeling Reno still hadn't been caught, so he was definitely still in the forest with her. It was a feeling that gave her comfort, but she did not take from it, as she didn't particularly want to trouble Reno. She could look after herself. She'd manage just fine in this game. _I wonder if I will win this time. It would be nice to win!_

The last time they'd played, the game had pretty much been cut short because of the ghost that apparently been in the forest. None of them had actually found any other signs of the ghost, so it was possible that it had been some sort of weird dream, or something else they'd somehow collectively misinterpreted. But Reimiya remembered the voice of their ghost, the beauty of the song it (They? He? She?) had chosen to sing and the sad, sad quality of the voice doing the singing. Part of her hoped that the ghost would start singing again, because she wanted to hear it again. _But,_ she thought as she discerned that it was okay for her to ease out of the spot she was in, _I won't go searching. If the ghost wants to be found, they'll come out. Instead, I will try my best here._ Carefully, she moved further forward, keeping to the scenery as much as possible, ready to find a new space to fold into if she detected Kuroba, Koujiro, Jori or Eriko coming.

As she continued to advance, she heard other people get found, and could not help but feel proud of herself. It was, naturally, impossible to tell how many of them had been found at that point, but she wouldn't be surprised if there really weren't that many of them left. The game would probably be ending soon in that case, so she had a good chance of winning, and that bolstered her as she went uphill, then impulsively turned a few corners and headed into a small clearing which was…weird, somehow. She could hear a stream or a river or something of that nature nearby, and she could not remember having ever come across anything like that before. First making sure she was not completely exposed, she stopped, and tipped her head in the direction of the noise, and listened carefully.

 _This means I'm in a part of the forest I've not been in before._ Reimiya shivered. She hoped this didn't mean that she wasn't lost. _Ah, what do I do…..?_

She thought carefully for a while, then reached in her fleece pocket for the spare hairbands she'd normally use to tie up the end of her plait, and considered them. Then, she examined the end of her scarf carefully, and when her eyes alit on a stray unravelling thread, she pulled at it, using her teeth to snap it off. It was a piece of orange wool, suitably bright and reasonably long. Putting the other hairbands back in her pocket, she tied the orange wool into a bow firmly around the hair band, then stepped out and reached for a branch to tie the hairband firmly to. Once that was done, she backed away to see if it was visible, and satisfied with the result, she pursued the sound of the water. She wasn't sure whether she had just taken a sensible approach or not, but it would have to do until she could satisfy her surprising curiosity.

Carefully, she stepped over to the sound, and soon came across its source- a pond or something of that nature, that was directly underneath a rather long drop, the top of which she was standing on. Reimiya gulped as she stepped back a few paces. _How high am I?_ There was something worn away about the side of the mountain that led down to the pool, and she had noticed this before she'd backed away. It was almost as if there had been a waterfall there once, but it had long since dried up. _Do waterfalls even just stop like that? That doesn't make much sense, I don't think. When the game is finished, I'll ask someone about it._ But even as she decided that, she turned around and noticed that the apparent waterfall seemed to follow on from a stream that went on for a while, and stopped just a little bit in front of her. It was blocked, that much she could tell, but she could not discern how. She decided to get away from the edge and follow this bit of stream that was still around, and soon came to another blockage. As she knelt down, she noticed it looked put there, carved in some senses, as if someone had deliberately blocked it up for something.

 _This makes no sense,_ she thought for the millionth time, _why would someone do this?_ She straightened up carefully and brushed her knees clean and looked ahead. There were some trees blocking her view, but it was still a clearing, and she was sure that perhaps she'd find the answer to what all this was about if she moved forward. It wouldn't take her long to just look, and if she followed the blockages and what remained of the water sources then she'd find the tree she'd tied the hairband to. But then something rustled, and she almost shrieked in surprise, clapping her hands over her mouth just in time and ducking away. _Who is that?_ Nervously, her heart rattling around in her chest, she looked up, and then breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Hidaka, nothing to be scared of at all. Reimiya let out a nervous giggle, then covered her mouth again. _Oops._ Hidaka heard the sound, and jumped violently, looking around and around him. But he did not catch sight of her, and straightened a little bit, steeling his shoulders and moving on.

That was when Reimiya noticed that there was something not right about him. She could not explain it, and she wasn't sure she even knew it in the first place, but there was something shifty about what he was doing here. She'd spent most of her early childhood staying out of the way and learning to read the moods in the air surrounding her parents so that she knew just how far out of the way she should stay. So there was definitely something wrong about him being here. And the fact that this was a part of the forest she was sure that nobody else had discovered….there was something very, very wrong. _So, pursue him._

Hidaka cut in front of her, and unwittingly ended up going in the same direction she herself was, looking left and right, still nervous to her eyes, though at the same time there was something very determined about his moving, as though he had embarked on something that needed to be seen through to the end. A couple of times, he whipped right around, startled by something, but each time Reimiya managed to stay out of sight, and felt a little guilty for it. _He can't be doing anything bad, can he? He isn't bad…..is he?_ Reimiya did not actually know what she thought of him, but he had complimented her and so she had been nice to him. She didn't think it was good to get angry at people, or avoid them unless there was a reason, so she had talked to him whenever he had talked to her, and that was all she thought that had to be there to it.

 _But, there might be a reason now. I can feel it and- oh, what is he doing?_

Hidaka stopped, and leaned against a tree, next to the one Reimiya had just snuck behind. He looked around, and took a few deep breaths, before reaching into his tracksuit trouser pocket and taking out his mobile phone. He turned it on, and stared resolutely at the screen as it came to life. Reimiya stared too. Unconsciously, she started to bite on a hangnail as she watched him press buttons and the screen. It felt like she was at the corner of something momentous, significant, world-shattering. _And bad. It's really bad._ As Hidaka eventually accessed his contacts list, and scrolled down it, Reimiya squinted. She was at the wrong angle, so she couldn't see what number Hidaka was searching for, but she did have to wonder, why on earth he would use their hide-and-seek game to make a phone call. And then he seemed to find it, for his finger then suddenly hovered over a number. He took a few deep, shuddering breaths, he was steeling himself for something. And then, he reached into his pocket again with his free hand, and pulled out a piece of paper, unskilfully and straightened it out.

 _That's….that's the contact details, isn't it? For Maehara-san, Isogai-san and Kataoka-san. Is he…calling them? No, no he isn't. I don't think so._ Reimiya shivered, not sure what to do or why she was thinking like this. If she was right, and he had the details there for a different reason, then they could all be in trouble. She didn't want Reno or any of her friends to get into trouble. _What do I do?_

As she wondered this, Hidaka pressed 'call' on his phone, and just like that, it was decided for her. She left the safety of the tree and rushed to end up in his line of sight.

"H-Hidaka-san?" she could not hide the trembles she felt, and she hated that, but Hidaka seemed not to notice, his mouth dropping open, even as he put the phone firmly to his ear.

"R-R-R…."

After a moment, he gave up on saying her name, and just stared at her. Reimiya clenched her fists and tried to appear resolute in one way or another. But she couldn't, and the seconds seemed to stretch out as they both seemed to wait for the person, whoever they may be, to pick up.

And then, another surprising thing happened, as Kuroba seemed to suddenly materialise from behind Hidaka and plucked the phone from his hand, and with a disinterested sneer, ended the call. Hidaka instinctively reached for his phone, but being significantly taller, the redhead did not need to exert much effort to keep it out of reach, and then, as Hidaka flailed and struggled, he then turned a truly contemptuous expression onto him, making Reimiya shiver even more than the coldness made her do.

Then, with a single gesture, he snapped the phone in half, and let the pieces drop to the ground.


	47. Exposure

_Oh shit, I've been caught._

For a long moment, that was all Hidaka could think, and then he looked at his now-empty hand.

"H-Hey! T-That w-was my phone!" he protested, kneeling down instantly to pick up the pieces. He stopped as Kuroba walked so that his feet were centimetres away from Hidaka's hand.

"So?" Kuroba was frosty, imperious. Hidaka looked up cautiously, and did not like what he saw. "Do you care to explain who it is you are trying to secretly call in the forest?"

"N-No! My p-personal life i-is n-none of your business!" Hidaka tried. Kuroba sniffed at this.

"All well and good, except betraying us isn't exactly something that falls under 'personal life', _Rikio_ _Hidaka_."

 _Don't say my name like it's beneath you!_ Hidaka got up, enraged, some phone fragments dropping from his hand, but most still in his hand. Though he had no real clue about fighting, he got his fists up and prepared to charge- when he felt a hand clamp around both his wrists. He screamed, and his hand loosened. Some glass and plastic fell down his tracksuit fleece, sticking at an uncomfortable angle. If he moved wrong, it could prick him.

"I knew you _were_ suspicious. " Gasping, Hidaka looked up into the utterly cold face of Reno. "Were you only pretending to be interested in Miya-Chan?"

Hidaka blinked for a moment, then, struggling in Reno's grip, he looked over at Reimiya, who had sunk to her knees, looking at them with eyes wider than usual, and more frightened. She was gripping at her scarf, making it obscure her mouth. She looked like she was trying to clamp down on her shaking, which was still visible. But still, she watched them, unflinching.

"Miya-Chan." Suddenly, Reno let go of Hidaka's wrists, causing him to gasp again, and then rub each of his wrists in turn as Reno rushed over to the smaller girl, crouching down to her current height and showering her with concern. Suddenly, it was as if the world for Reno had shrunk down to his sister, and her alone. _Oh…._ He found his throat clogged up for a moment, but then he realised that, with Reno's attention thus taken, he could easily make a run for it. So, once he had shaken out all the fragments from his sleeve, he started to creep away.

"Not so fast."

Kuroba planted himself in front of him, and Hidaka's resolve disappeared. He stared at the ground. Reno and Reimiya got up and went to stand next to Kuroba, all of them looking at him.

"W-What do w-we do now, R-Reno?" Reimiya asked. "Did…Is….he really telling others about us? O-our secrets?"

"It seems like it, from what I heard Kuroba-san say just now. " Reno looked to Kuroba for some sort of confirmation, and the redhead nodded.

"This boy harbours some sort of hatred towards us for some reason, particularly Yukiyama, and I have noticed him trying to eavesdrop on quite a few of us. And generally, he is not good at being inconspicuous, though I am sure that stammering tic he has was enough to make most of us complacent."

"I-I-I"

"Don't speak! Not unless you're going to tell the truth!" Reno snapped out suddenly.

"Don't talk to me like that, 3E scum!" Hidaka couldn't hold it back, and though this made Reno flare up, Kuroba just seemed amused as he reached to grab Hidaka's wrist. He yelped, for his wrist was still sore from Reno's momentary grip.

"Reno, take his other hand. We're taking him back to face the rest of the class."

"Right, sure." Reno didn't hesitate, and Hidaka yelped again. _I really am in trouble…_

With a yank, the two boys forced him to start walking, and reluctantly, that is just what he did. He was tempted to drag his feet, make things harder for them, but looking at both their faces, he decided against it. He would argue his case against the rest of them.

"You said that so easily…."

They didn't break their strides (or stumbles, in Hidaka's case), but all three boys stared at Reimiya. But she only looked at Hidaka, mournful.

"You said that we're 'scum' just as easily as you said my eyes were pretty."

With this, she looked away. Hidaka felt a sudden wave of shame, but had no time to consider this as he continued to walk while essentially being shackled. They did not say anything else, to him or to each other, apart from Reimiya pointed out a bit of wool she had tied to a tree, so that she would have been able to find her way back from this new, unfamiliar part of the forest.

It was almost a relief when he noticed they were almost at the bottom, and his concern about how the others in the class would reply disappeared when Tsukuda noticed them, and instantly rushed over.

"Hey, you two, what's the big deal? What are you doing to Hidaka? You're acting as if he is a convicted killer! Let go of him, now!" she stormed. Hidaka looked at her gratefully. _There, you said it._

"He isn't a killer, but he isn't too far from it. I'd save your breath there." Kuroba responded, impervious to Tsukuda's words, and instead just dragging Hidaka forward further, so that more of the others surrounded them, peppering them with questions and useless exclamations of surprise and other similar things.

"So, my bad feeling was right, then?" Fuyumi's quiet voice grounded everything to a halt, and they all stared at her. She sighed, sadly, and closed her eyes for a moment before focusing on Hidaka. She did not say anything though, just looking away again. Something clenched inside him, but Hidaka refused to acknowledge it. Everyone exchanged glances and looks at each other, all confused. Izzy and Hana came out of the forest, escorted by Eriko, just as Tada cleared his throat to presumably 'get to the bottom' of things, or something along those lines.

"So, what's going on, then? Kuroba-kun, Reno-kun?" Tada was apprehensive. Kuroba snorted and let go of Hidaka. He fished in his pocket and pulled out the pieces of his phone. Hidaka was gobsmacked, for he had not realised that Kuroba had even picked them up.

"Hidaka here is selling us out, to put it simply. "He said. "He's been integrating himself with the class, so he can tell….well, I am not sure who, exactly, it is, but I have a good idea of it. But anyway, the point is, he is trying to hinder Ending the End Class. That's feasibly the only thing about our class that he could possibly expose that would have a bad effect on us."

"M-Maehara-san and the others, too." Reimiya spoke up, gripping at her scarf. Her eyes fluttered as he turned to her, and she shrunk into herself a little. "I-I think he was g-going to tell whoever it was about them, too. Get them into trouble."

Reno let go of Hidaka to go to Reimiya and ruffle her hair, and Hidaka, not expecting this, fell to the ground in an awkward sitting position. Nobody came to help him up, which stung, oddly. _But why would you want help from them, of all people, anyway? You don't need that, Rikio._

"A-Are you freaking serious?!" Tsukuda's shoulders hunched, and she fidgeted, caught between two different sides. It was clear she couldn't tell what was right and what wasn't. Tada sighed, sadly.

"Is this true, Hidaka-kun?"

"N-no!"

"He's lying. I know he is!" Reno cried out. "Stupid little idiot!"

"N-No I-I'm n-not! Y-you broke my-my ph-phone! I-I co-could g-get you suspended f-for that!"

"We can sort that out later, Hidaka-san." Eriko cut in at this point, stern and disapproving. "Right now, that's not the issue we are trying to address."

"I-I, bu-but….!" Hidaka could not believe how quickly things were going downhill. _This was meant to be easy._

"Ah, just can it and admit it, Hidaka." Aida put in at this point. "You've clearly been caught out by these guys, so I'm guessing you really were stupid enough to actually listen to the Student Council Pres."

Everyone swivelled around to stare at Aida at this point. She stuck her hands in her pockets and rolled her eyes.

"Wait, Aida-Chan, you knew about Hidaka-kun already?!" Tada yelped. "Why didn't you try to say anything?"

Aida rolled her eyes again, and heaved out a heavy sigh.

"I didn't _know_ anything, I just had a suspicion. You see, just before we broke up for summer, once we'd found out that we were going to be stuck here, Hasegawa approached us just outside the building. Spouted crap about how we were disappointments and something about proving loyalty to the school meaning it wasn't too late….I hadn't the slightest what he was on about, but it smelt like a bribe to me, so I told the Student Council President and the odious Otsuka to fuck off, basically, and I left. But Hidaka stayed to listen to them. And that is _all_ I freaking knew, okay?"

"Okay, okay, we get it! Take a chill pill, Aida-Chan!" Koujiro said at this point.

"Gee, thanks." Aida deadpanned. But she didn't seem too pissed off anymore-a shame, as now everyone was looking at Hidaka again. _Don't be concerned about them._

"So, it was Hasegawa. I knew it." Kuroba stared.

"Of course you did." Izzy snickered. "That guy is just a mean, mean cookie. Probably made up of rotten dough, too."

"Weirdo." Ayako told Izzy, poking him in the side. He grinned wolfishly at her, though he did look at her poking finger askance.

"Perhaps we should just call him Cookiegawa from now on! Om nom nom, I'd be happy to eat him up and save us some grief, but he would taste too bad and, y'know, I don't want to die of food poisoning." Izzy was warming to his theme, clearly. It made Hidaka want to scream. Hana giggling at Izzy's silliness didn't help.

"Izzy-kun, you're not helping…." Tada sighed. He rubbed his head, tired, and Tsukuda came up next to him, placing her hands on his shoulder. Hidaka turned away, for he did not want to see how the air turned warm and golden around them, two 3E students happier than he could ever be. _Especially since I just failed at my task._

"Anyway, the simple question: Did you do it, Hidaka-san? Did you do what you've been accused of?" Eriko asked, hands now balled firmly on her hips. Hidaka glared, glared at all of them, annoyed about just how lofty they were all being, how high and mighty they were being, as though they were important. But he looked at Reimiya, covertly, and thought of what she had said to him.

" _You said that so easily….you said that we're 'scum' just as easily as you said my eyes were pretty."_

"Y-yes." He cleared his throat, and started again. "Yes. I did."

"To Hasegawa-kun?" Tada asked, almost numbly. Though Hidaka refused to look at them, he nodded firmly. Gasps reverberated around them, and they all stood there, stunned. Nobody said anything, nor did they move to strike or restrain him in any way, so Hidaka slowly got up, thinking that at least he should be at their height. At that moment, a woman's voice floated over to them, just a single exclamation of surprise.

"Oh." A tall woman, her purple hair in a neat bun, came up the hill, and stopped to stare at them. Her very sharp violet eyes surveyed them, quick and calculating behind her red-rimmed glasses. A camera hung around her neck, and she was dressed casually in grey yoga pants and a light blue t-shirt. There was a small pack hanging off her shoulder, a water bottle poking out. She was nobody that Hidaka knew, but apparently Haru (for one) did, for she moved forward to beam at the woman.

"Katou-san! Did you come by to take more pictures? Of the forest this time, maybe?"

"Yes," she stated. "I was going to come this morning, but I didn't have time…..what's happening here, making you stand around as sombrely as if you'd been attending a funeral?"

She continued to scan them, and her eyes settled on Hidaka, who shrunk. He didn't like the bug under a microscope (or rather, view finder, given her camera) feeling that he gave. But it was at this point, Tada seemed to shake off his heaviness, at least for a moment.

"It doesn't matter really, Katou-sempai. You don't need to hold yourself back from the photographs on our account. "

Katou's eyebrow twitched at the 'sempai' bit, but she didn't call Tada out on it, and instead just shrugged.

"Alright then." With that, she disappeared off into the forest. Hidaka's mind danced, wondering who she was that Tada would address her as a senior in that particular manner, and if she was important. If he should have known of her earlier, and if it would have been useful to have had that knowledge. Hirigi caught something of this, for he rounded on Hidaka.

"What's wrong? Pissed you didn't get a chance to snitch on her, too?"

"W-Why w-would I-I?" Hidaka had a try of defiance. "S-She's j-just rude."

"Ah, no, that's not really that true!" Tsukuda exclaimed. "She's a bit like Yukiyama- not very social and prefers to be alone and whatever- but she is nice, really. Plus, she doesn't come by that often."

Yukiyama gave no insight as to what he thought of this comparison.

"But, in any case, I think we should really just…well, sort this out inside." Tada said.

"I think we might need some tea. Biscuits, too?" Haru suggested, almost hesitant.

"That would be great. We'll need that for sure. Thanks, Ichinose-san." Eriko was grateful, which produced a happy smile from Haru, who bounded ahead to prepare for them. Kinomoto did not even need telling to rush after her to prepare. Then, the rest of them followed on, with Reno and Kuroba flanking him so that he wouldn't run away. Not that he would have, anyway. He was too confused and concerned for that, not least because though he knew they were all against him now, he would still end up being given a cup of that soothing tea while they figured what to do with him.

 **…**

After they had all calmed down with tea, Tada had decided to take the lead in questioning Hidaka, and he got Tsukuda and Eriko to help. Kuroba chipped in a bit too, and Tada just let him, for it had been him who had caught Hidaka in the act. But with their combined efforts, they found out that Hasegawa had promised Hidaka an easy route back into the main campus if he had offered information about 3E and Ending the End Class that would have allowed Hasegawa to stop them, once and for all. The way Hidaka related it, it sounded so much like he fully believed they deserved no less than all their hard work going into the dust, and it made Tada sick, though he tried his best to not show that (failing awfully in the process, he knew that much).

The study session that they had planned with Isogai and the others for the day after Hidaka's exposure went on as normal, as Eriko had decided that it was best to go on as normal despite everything. Tada had had his misgivings, but since in truth he had been unsure as how to move forward once the dust had settled, he decided to go with it. Hidaka, naturally, did not come to that session, but as promised, Aida did do so. Surprisingly enough, not only did she get on with Isogai and Maehara once she met them (she seemed okay with Megu-on-Skype too, but not nearly as noticeably). Though naturally the focus was on studying for the midterms, they did talk a little about Hidaka and the situation he had presented them all with. They tried their best to come up with ideas, but in the end, they all decided to just bide their time, get on with the other pressing things, and continue on like that.

"It's not a situation that we've really come across before. Nobody has ever tried to sell out their class before, when we've been mentoring them." Isogai had said. "But then again, that might be because none of them had had a 3E quite like yours, or even ours. Then again, though we were almost destroyed many times, it was never really from the inside out…."

Something had struck Tada as funny about that particular statement, not least the odd, musing nature of it, but the focus had shifted quickly, and by the time Tada's mind had snagged onto the oddness it was too awkward to ask. But as Megu in particular reassured them that they wouldn't have needed to worry about them if Hidaka had succeeded in blabbing about them, they all decided it didn't matter, and set about the task of the midterms as determinedly as possible. Though he had a better incentive to work harder (to show Hidaka that he hadn't shaken them up), at the same time, it was more draining to do so. He didn't think that he had quite realised just how heavy the weight of betrayal was.

When the exams came, they all struggled a little bit, but the nasty tricks that the examiners had come up with were just that-nasty. No major surprises, or plot twists. Just pure, pure difficulty. After the final test, they'd all decided to invade Oceanfront, and Fumiko was more than happy to listen to their woes as she served them the endless supply of sweet treats that they ordered.

The day that they would get their results felt like it was taking years, and when it finally came every single one of them were almost as early as the trio who took care of the flowers. Even Ayako. But, when Ichijou arrived, rather than keeping up her bumbling, cheerful chatter as always, she simply put her things down and went to write something on the board.

 _I have lost my voice today._

There was a moment of silence. Then, everyone burst out into a cacophony of annoyance and bafflement, all of them talking over each other and poor Ichijou looking baffled before eventually, she resorted to clapping her hands to silence them. Somewhat miraculously, it worked. Ichijou beamed at them, and then continued to write.

 _I know it is troublesome for you, but please bear with me, children. Now, I know you are all excited for the midterm results, so I will hand them out now, then I will list who was the top in the class, and how they ranked across the year for that subject._

"Sensei, what about the overall Top 50. Will you list if any of us got into there?!" Ayako enquired. Ichijou nodded earnestly, and then silently handed out the sheets. Tada looked over his, and found himself satisfied with the results. He looked around to Tsukuda and the others, seeing the variety of reactions that they had. Some satisfied, some surprised, others joyful. _All positive though. I sure hope so anyway._ He put his sheets down and looked to Ichijou, who was waiting for them to finish surveying their own results. Once she seemed satisfied they were all looking, she began to write.

 _English: Haruka Ichinose-san, 25_ _th_ _in the year. Kachi Kitabayashi-kun and Hana Aoshima-san came very, very close, and as second and third respectively in this class, were 26_ _th_ _and 27_ _th_ _across the year._

 _Literature: Saito Yukiyama-kun, again 3_ _rd_ _across the year. This time, tied with Jori Kasai-san and Eriko Fujisaki-san._

"Woah, look at that!" Ruko enthused. "We're off to a pretty good start already, if there are ties and close runs at this point!"

"Wonder how they're feeling about it over at the main campus, if they even know!" Hirigi added jubilantly as Ichijou continued to write.

 _Mathematics: Once again, Seijuro Kuroba-kun and Hana Aoshima-kun tied, but this time were 3_ _rd_ _place across the year. However, from what I heard, there was a much bigger margin between your score and the score of whoever came 4th in your year, so do not worry._

There were cheers at this particular bit of news, and the two victors didn't seem too down heartened by the announcement that they were only in third this time around.

 _Science: Hanae Tsukuda-san once again, 26_ _th_ _in the year. Mikoto Yamada-san came second in this class and was 34_ _th_ _in the year, followed by Makoto Kinomoto-kun as third in the class and 39_ _th_ _in the year._

 _Social Studies: Kaori Fujisaki-san tied with Fuyumi Yukimura-san, both ending up in 22_ _nd_ _in the year._

 _Home Economics: Like last term, Haruka Ichinose-san and Kazuma Hirigi-kun, again 17_ _th_ _across the year. Kiyomi Akira-san should also be mentioned here, as she came second here and 18_ _th_ _place across the school._

"So, what about the overall rankings?" Koujiro exclaimed excitedly. "I bet loads of us managed to get into those!"

"I wouldn't be surprised at all if that happened." Tada agreed warmly. "Well done, to all of you!"

"We've certainly come a long way since the mid-terms last term, or even the end-of exams." Eriko remarked, turning to smile at Kaori.

"Ain't that right?" Ruko drawled cheekily.

"Argh, can we just get on with it, please?" Aida said, a little irritable. Tada wondered what her grades had been like. She didn't look disappointed as such, but since he knew full well that she wanted to return to the main campus, he wasn't sure of that. When he glanced sneakily at Hidaka, on the other hand, disappointment practically emanated off of him. _That doesn't bode well for us,_ he thought, but decided to focus his attention on the rankings. Ichijou was simply listing the names of those in the class who had appeared on the overall top 50, as well as what rank they had in that.

 _Seijuro Kuroba-kun and Izaya Arisato-kun, 6_ _th_ _place  
Hana Aoshima-san, 12_ _th_ _place  
Hanae Tsukuda-san, 17_ _th_ _place  
Saito Yukiyama-kun, 27_ _th_ _place  
Haruka Ichinose-san, 33_ _rd_ _place  
Makoto Kinomoto-kun, 38_ _th_ _place  
Tadaomi Kitakawa-kun, 46_ _th_ _place  
Airi Aida-san and Remijiro Azama-kun, 50_ _th_ _place._

 _You all improved a lot, regardless of whether you are all on this list. I'm very proud of all of you wonderful children,_ Ichijou added.

"Tada-san, you're on that list!" Ayako cheered. "So's Tsukuda-san, this is great! It's a shame you didn't get on there, Eriko-san, or it would have totally been a case of all the reps kicking main campus ass!"

"I second that!" Koujiro declared. "That being said, I think we kicked 'academic ass' plenty, to use the words Tada-kun's funny friend did last time. "

"Y-yeah, we did!" Reimiya piped up, hesitant but happy.

"That we most certainly did…." Tada said, looking a bit dazed. _I'm on the Top 50. I don't even know how it happened, but I somehow ended up on the Top 50._ He looked at his results paper, and smiled. _This is crazy, I cannot believe it. But the evidence is right there._ He looked over and caught the eyes of his friends. They smiled back.

"The tables are turning now. The definition of 'weak' is being turned on its head." Azama commented. "It's what you're wanting, no?"

"Yeah, I guess." Tada replied across the room. "And you contributed specifically to that, you know."

"But not alone, though." Tsuwabuki pointed out.

"Yeah, that's right!" Tsukuda exclaimed. "Aida, you just scraped into the Top 50 as well! So that means you could leave, if you wanted to!"

Aida snorted.

"Obviously! I'll be gone by Monday! Unlike some, I've actually been working for this. Clearly not enough, or I probably could have gotten better than even some of you, but since you wanna stay here, who cares? We pretty much got what we wanted."

"Yeah, that's right." Tada could not help but look at Hidaka once again. He was not the only one to do so. Hidaka had been the only one to not participate in any of the class chatter in any way, shape or form, and was looking down at his desk, fists resting on it, clenched. It was clear that, in a manner of speaking, he was 'stuck' with them. Tada wondered what that would mean for them. He'd have to figure it out soon, in any case.

"Aww, man, let's not dampen the party mood!" Ruko said. "Let's liven it up! I think I might take some pictures of my ships. Kuroba-kun, Arisato-kun, will you two pose for me?"

"Are you stupid?" Came Kuroba's predicable response. "Do you condone incest or something?"

This was _not_ such a predictable response, and so they all ended up swivelling around in their seats to see how the faceoff between the two boys and Ruko would fare.

"…..huh?"

"We're brothers." Kuroba said shortly. Once again, the last thing they had expected. Hana was the only one who did not seem surprised at the pronouncement.

"S-since when?!"

"That's a weird question…" Izzy slyly drawled. They all blinked simultaneously, and then another burst of friendly chaos erupted, the grades forgotten as they all descended down on Izzy and Kuroba with questions, not least poor Ruko with her newly sunken ship.

"THAT ISN'T FAIR!THAT'S _NOT_ THE TYPE OF THING YOU JUST RANDOMLY ANNOUNCE!"

 **…**

Though Aida was feeling pretty jubilant, rather than joyfully striding out, she hung back. She was leaving this class properly, and she did not intend to come back. Well, not on a long term basis. She reckoned it might be fun to swing by at the end of the day and chat or gossip with some of them, but she wasn't going to be a part of the class any longer. No way. Unlike Hidaka- that cheating worm, she still had trouble believing that _moron_ had actually listened to and believed Hasegawa- she had earned her way out, and wasn't going to throw that away. She _wasn't_ a moron.

And it was precisely because she was not a moron that she had to do this one last thing before she turned her back on this place for good. So she hung back, politely declined lets-walk-home-together invitations from Ayako and Ruko, and bided her time. Once she spotted Haru and Kinomoto walking around to the back towards where the gardening tools were kept, she followed them.

"Ichinose! I need to say something to you!"

"Sure, what is it?" Though the girl was wary (understandably, Aida grudgingly admitted), she put on her best smile and waited. Kinomoto stood some steps behind her, tilting his head curiously.

"Just so you know, I still don't particularly like you much. Call it individual differences or whatever. But, I was wrong about you. That, and," Aida paused to shrug bashfully. "You make one hell of a tea. Thought I'd say that, before I go. And, well, that's it, really. Enjoy the rest of your time here, since you're staying like everyone else."

Aida turned swiftly and began to walk away, when Haru's voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned around on her heel, and stared at Haru, who was a little flustered, wringing her hands slightly, even as she smiled pleasingly.

"Well…since you'll be leaving us…do you want to have one last cup of tea?"

Aida considered this, but in truth, it was not that difficult a decision.

"Might as well."

* * *

 **Supplementary OCs introduced this chapter:**

 **Nana Katou (Belongs to: kawaiichoconeko)**

 **Yeah, I know, I technically said that the supplementary OCs would be introduced when the part of the story that showed why I needed them would occur. But, this opportunity presented itself and so I took it. That being said, finding out what role they have will be a big part of the next chapter- that, and it'll be the beginning of one of the major arcs of this story, so there is something for you to look forward to!**

 **So, anyway, what did you think of the chapter? About how things got exposed? And Aida, too, actually. What do you all think of her now? I personally am pretty satisfied now- she isn't a loose end anymore, that's for sure. But speaking of loose ends- admittedly, this story still has a way to go and so there are lots of things that haven't been addressed yet for that simple reason, but have any of you picked up on any loose ends/ plot holes that don't seem to have been addressed? If so, do let me know so I can edit the next chapter ideas accordingly!**

 **But anyway, in general as always, please leave me feedback! And I do hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	48. Welcome to the Museum, part 1

**Replies to Guest Reviews:**

 **Guest (Ch. 22-Kyoto Trio, part 4): XD Yay!**

* * *

"So, the school festival."

Tada wrote 'school festival' on the blackboard and drew three circles around it. Adding in a few arrows around the circle, he was reminded of launching the Ending the End Class project, back near the beginning of the year. _We are making progress._

"Does anyone have any ideas they want to put forward? Anything at all? We might even be able to combine ideas, too."

"Well, it's going to need to be pretty amazing, right?" Hirigi said. "I mean, to get people to _this_ place."

"Yeah, it's gotta be worth the trek up here." Jori agreed.

"In other words, we need to be out of the ordinary. No maid cafes or anything like that." Kuroba stated. Tada nodded.

"That's right! Not that there's anything with the usual fare that school festivals come up with, but I think we should definitely play on our distinctiveness."

"I'd say Kinomoto-kun's flowers should do the trick in that regard." Koujiro commented. "I mean, it's freaking _autumn_ and they're still bright. Like, how does that even work?"

"Well…" Kinomoto prepared to launch into a long explanation, only for Ruko to cheerfully go over and cover his mouth playfully. After a few moments of squirming, she released him, and grinned before going back to her seat. Kinomoto, to his credit, didn't seem particularly fazed or annoyed as he blinked a little and then spoke again.

"In any case, the flowers that we do are just a little thing, really. The real beauty comes from the nature that was already here before us. I think that we should do something that highlights this to the general public. Maybe then they'd understand how wonderful the earth is…"

"That would work." Eriko agreed, and she wrote this on the board, next to one of the arrows.

"I agree!" Tada said. "So, anything else?"

"What about a café with a _different_ sort of theme? Like, a theme relating to the food?" Akira piped up.

"So…what, like cakes specifically? Or maybe a particular kind of cuisine? Oooh, we could recreate an all-American diner! That would be so cool!" Koujiro enthused, almost drooling at the thought of the food.

"I do think it would be cool if we could make food from a different culture." Tsukuda commented, half shrugging.

"French food, maybe." Eriko commented randomly. "Or perhaps something else European? Italian cuisine is supposed to be good, I've heard."

"Oh, it really is!" Haru agreed. "One of my uncles took me to an Italian restaurant downtown when I was about 12, and I really enjoyed it!"

"Yeah, I like those ideas too." Tada said. "My mother's class did a restaurant for their school festival, themselves, as it happens. A ramen one, to be specific."

"Well, that's rather ordinary." Ayako sounded disappointed.

"What if I said that it was ramen made with ingredients sourced from this very forest?" When everyone stared at Izzy, he shrugged.

"I was talking to them the other day, and they happened to mention it."

"Yeah, Izzy-kun's right about that."

"That's pretty cool though! I don't think I could have ever thought of that!" Haru exclaimed.

"How come you didn't suggest it yourself, Tada-Chan?" Ruko wanted to know.

"I didn't want to, well, overtake the festival or anything. It's not just about me and my mother, it's about all of us."

"Still!" Tsukuda retorted. "You could have at least put it on the mindmap."

"Well, I can always do that now." Tada cheerily replied. He carefully wrote 'themed restaurants' next to another arrow, then did a few other arrows coming off of that one, and wrote down some of the specific ideas mentioned, including that of the ramen. Then, he turned and invited more ideas.

"A games room? Like, arcade games?"

"Something for kids? Like, an interactive playground?"

"A mini movie theatre!"

"Maybe a shop? We could make little things, pretty things, and sell them!"

"A kissing booth!"

"What about a mini concert? We've got some musically talented people here, after all!"

"Or we could put on a play!"

"A museum."

It took a moment, but the quiet suggestion reached every corner of the classroom, and everyone else's clamouring ceased. They all searched for the source of the suggestion, and found Hana, sitting in her desk, as serene and as lost as always as she stared back at them.

"A…museum?" Tsukuda eventually asked for them all. Hana nodded once.

"Do you think you could explain for us?" Ichijou asked from her desk, where she had been observing the students make their suggestions for their school festival attraction. Hana hesitated a moment, but then nodded again, and rather unexpectedly, she stood up to deliver her explanation.

"A museum about us. About Class 3E. But not just about ours, or even about Isogai-san's only. But all of them. Our classes can't be the only ones who've…tried and tried to break away from what it meant to be in this class. And museums, they venerate the past, celebrate it. Why shouldn't we celebrate the successes those of us in this world who were once 3E students had in the same way? It would open up people's eyes, too. To what things are really like."

Hana's face lit up during this explanation, displaying the wild and deep passion she rarely showed to most people in the first place, even as she fiddled with her blazer sleeves. Tsukuda carefully wrote '3E museum' on the board.

"I….that sounds pretty cool to me, actually!" Ayako was the first to speak when Hana had finished.

"It seems a solid idea." Kuroba decreed.

"Yup, me too!" Izzy said. There was something taunting in his voice, as if daring anyone to object, but Tada didn't think that anyone would dream of objecting anyway, not in the face of such a good idea.

"I like a good museum myself, actually." Azama remarked calmly.

"…..I never expected you to actually say that, "Tsuwabuki eventually replied. "But as it happens, I agree with you on that."

"The only thing is, how will we get other 3E students to join us?" Kaori wondered.

"Well, that's a good point…." Fuyumi conceded thoughtfully.

"Well, we have a point of contact for about 25 years' worth of the class from Yuuma-san, Hiroto-san and Megu-san." Tada said. "I'm sure that if we asked, then they could get us in contact with some of those who may be willing. And a few of my mothers' class, too. Obviously, we should have a variety beyond our class and 30 years ago, like Hana-Chan said, but there's a start."

"And we already have a little direct contact with other former 3E members!" Ruko reminded them. "Like Fumiko-sempai and Katou-san, for example!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Eriko exclaimed. "And Kataoka-san was friendly with someone who went into the 3E straight after her one, so I could ask her if that person would be willing to help us."

"And if we put up an advert on the blog, and maybe went back to Sugaya's to get some more posters made, we could use those to reach anyone else? Like, those from before Isogai-san and the others started helping them like they help us!" Ayako looked excited at the possibility. Tada nodded eagerly.

"That all makes sense to me!" Tada declared, trying to keep up as he scribbled on the board.

"So then, "Tsukuda asked. "Are we all agreed on the museum as our attraction then?"

"YEAH!" nearly all of them chorused (those who didn't just nodded). Tada grinned at Hana, who beamed back, still blushing a little as she sat down again. _I think we've come up with something pretty good here. I'm glad Hana-Chan suggested that._

"Hidaka, just make sure you don't go crying to Hasegawa about this." Kuroba coldly said, dampening the room atmosphere a bit. Hidaka squirmed in his seat. Many of the others seemed a little uncomfortable too. Hidaka's exposure was far too soon for them to be able to just put it completely behind them.

"I-I'm n-not that s-stupid that i-I-I would d-d-do t-that now!" he burst out. Tada rubbed his head tiredly. Luckily, he was saved from having to do anything by Kitabayashi unexpectedly piping up with a question.

"Museums are a pretty big thing. How will you manage to set it up?"

"Teamwork, obviously!"Ayako put in, with a more exuberant version of the answer Tada was about to give."If we all work together, and really hard, we'll be able to."

"Pretty much that, yeah." Eriko agreed. "But, Hana-san, as this was your idea, do you have anything to add?"

"I think….festivals in this school are such a big thing, more than just a school festival. The other classes, they'll be trying to make use of whatever contacts and things they have to make their attractions more successful. We'll need to do the same thing….and we have a whole network, don't we? Of 3E students. It could be a 3E museum in the truest sense in that way."

"And again, we can ask Yuuma-san and the others about that, so that will be okay. For now…Ichijou-sensei, I think we should probably start lessons now?"

"Oh?" Ichijou herself looked at the clock, and then blinked. "Ah, oh yes! I was so engrossed in listening to you, I completely forgot about that!"

 _You cannot be serious…_

 **…**

"Yo, Tada, you don't usually call at lunchtime. Is everything okay?"

Tada grinned at Maehara's cheerful voice on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, it is. I just-well, we just- wanted to run something by one of you at least. Is that okay? Ah, and by the way, I put you on loudspeaker."

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine!" Tada could easily visualise the expressive gestures Maehara would probably be making as he said this, and he chuckled silently to himself at this. "So fire away, kid."

"It's about the school festival. "He said. "We're thinking of doing a museum relating to 3E. So the 'displays' will pertain to former 3E students, as will any other features. And as for any extra help, we will try and get other 3E-ers involved too. Actually, Hana-Chan can explain it better, hold on!"

Tada beckoned Hana over, and with a little coaxing, she gave a similar explanation to the one that she had said to them all that morning. When she had finished, Maehara whistled.

"Wow. That is impressive. That's a really cool idea!" Maehara said. "So, I'm guessing that you'd want my help, and Yuuma and Megu's too, in getting some of your 'attractions'."

"Pretty much, yeah. Is that okay?"

" _Is that okay_? Silly Tada, this kind of thing is what we're here for! I'm actually thinking of a few people now, who I think would be okay with helping you out. I'll ask Yuuma and Megu for you too."

"What about you three?" Koujiro asked.

"Eh?" Maehara sounded confused.

"You three as a museum attraction yourselves, obviously, Maehara-san!" Ayako said, a little too loudly, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "I mean, you've helped so many other 3E students, not just us, and you were former 3E students yourself. If anyone deserves a part in this, it's you three!"

"Are you stupid, Takashita?" Kuroba snapped. "They've been trying to keep what they've been doing secret! How is featuring in a museum going to help that, may I ask?"

"Now, now, it's not such a big deal, you guys!" Maehara laughed over the phone. "Truth be told….maybe it is time to come clean."

"Maehara-san…." Hana murmured.

"Hiroto-san, are you sure?"

"Well, I guess so. It's been a long time, right? Principal Asano is long gone. And you guys, you're trying to end this system. So, that means you guys will be the last of the ones we'll help. Right time to come clean, don't you think?"

Tada glanced over at Hidaka, who was sitting off to the side, near to (but not that near) Reimiya, Akira and a few others, who were coming up with poster content ideas to take to Sugaya. He had a textbook in his hand, and seemed to be looking at that more than he was at the others. _How much has changed?_ Yukiyama, also near to them, seemed to notice Tada's frowns in the general direction of where he was sitting, and looked up from his own book (which seemed to be about learning sign language) that he was reading while listening to music, and gave Tada a confused look and a shrug. Appreciating the unique brand of concern (at least, that was what he presumed it to be), Tada smiled wearily back and returned his attention to the phone.

"If the worst had happened, we would have been able to handle it. You wouldn't have needed to have worried, kid." Maehara said, seemed to have read his mind. "In any case, I don't know if Yuuma or Megu will feel the same, so I will probably talk to them about that issue specifically. But helping you put up the museum, we'll definitely do that. That would never have been in doubt. "

"That's awesome! " Ruko chose to chirp into the phone at that moment. "You're awesome too!"

"Thank you, Sorachi-san!" Maehara laughed back.

"I think we should meet up at some point, in person. It'll be easier for us to figure out what we can do alone and what we need your help for if we did that." Tsukuda put in.

"Yeah, and in the meantime, we'll continue putting together the beginning parts of the 3E Museum ourselves." Eriko added.

"Yeah, sure, that's great. Probably the best time will be the weekend, Yuuma in particular is quite busy with helping with wedding plans and all…" Maehara chuckled. "Ah, how time flies. As much as I hate saying this-because it makes me sound so old-it feels like yesterday Tada and Hiro and the other older kids were all just really little."

"You're right," Ruko deadpanned. "It does make you sound old."

This earned more than a few giggles, and Maehara could also be heard laughing.

"Wedding?" Jori queried.

"Ikuko-san." Tada explained.

"Ahhh, okay. "

"Yeah, that's right!" Maehara chuckled again. "In any case, I don't want to take up any more of your lunchtimes, so I'll catch you later!"

"Bye-bye, Hiroto-san!"

"Bye!" Some of the others chorused. When Maehara hung up, Tada locked his phone and slipped it back in his pocket. The others began dispersing to their separate corners of the classroom, some working on plans for different museum aspects, and others just eating or hanging about.

"I haven't actually eaten my lunch yet," Eriko said. "So I'm going to do that, then maybe I could help you think of the wording for the blog advert, Takashita-san?"

"Yeah, sure!" Ayako was more than happy with this idea. Just drag a chair up when you're ready!"

"What are you going to do now, Tada? I was thinking of seeing if I'm of any use with the poster crew over there."

"Haha, 'poster crew'. Hanae, you're becoming like me?" Tada teased.

"And what?" Tsukuda mock pouted, making Tada laugh.

"Anyway, I think I'm going over to see what Fuyumi-Chan is doing with Tsuwabuki-kun and Hirigi-kun. I think they're working on plans of how to rearrange the classroom and other parts of the building to accommodate the museum. "

"We're also figuring out what sort of information and features we should include in relation to each person who'll be an attraction!" Hirigi called out. "We're a bit stuck, though!"

"Okay, then, I'll come over in a moment."

Tada smiled at Tsukuda, and she smiled back. They took a moment to grab their own lunches from their bags (for they had not eaten yet, either), and then went in their separate directions to pull together their grand plan for the school festival.

 **…**

Sticking his phone in his pocket, Maehara chomped down the rest of his lunch quite quickly. He wasn't in a rush-far from it, he still had quite a bit of time left before his lunch break would finish-but he felt like taking a walk, to think about the phone call he had just taken, and just things in general. A walk as a way of sorting his thoughts out was an approach that had come with growing up, and he could trace that as far back as when Arisa had been born. _It's funny, how these things turn out._

He was generally satisfied with his life. He was between relationships at the moment, but he had three wonderful children, he had a stable job and some great friendships too. He had security, safety, happiness and fun. He was satisfied, pretty much. But that had been shaken, once or twice before, and once, there had been no guarantee that he'd ever have such a life. All because of one school system. Away from it, it was almost staggeringly silly, how something could have defined his life like that, but it had done so. And in the end, something good had come from it. _Only because of the people that were there, and the experiences we created together._ He could only hope that the same would happen this time around, in this second generation. That they'd be able to make their own situation out of the one they were being chucked in.

But of course, that was already happening. The Ending the End Class project….he often wondered why it was that the sheer craziness of their particular year had not been enough to expose the Kunugigaoka System for what it was, but given that it was finally happening, he just figured that such questions were pointless. All that could really be done was to watch, and help, and protect. Which he would do, just as he had been, for the past 25 years. _And…to be featured in a museum._ He found himself more than a little blown away by that idea. He wondered if, he had been a fifteen year old again, and part of that class, if he would have thought of that, or if any of them would have. He doubted it, for the 3E they had was a completely different one, a little out of the world- _and bordering on a different world completely._ He often wished he could talk about it more, and not just with those who had experienced it with him. As much as he took so much comfort in talking about it all with Isogai and Megu-his two closest friends ever- as well as the rest of the class, he kind of wished he could share it, especially with his children.

Still, some things were not meant to be said, and so he figured he could just go with it. But the way they'd been trying their best to mitigate the effects of a long-gone-stale system did not strike him as something that wasn't meant to be said, not any more. Not now that the cracks were finally being shown up. Like he had said to Tada, perhaps it was time to step forward and tell the truth. Be a part of the current (and hopefully final) 3E's museum. Perhaps part of him wanted the warmth of glory, a collective thanking, because he could not say he was as utterly selfless and modest as Isogai was, but at the same time, he really did want to just get it out there. _It is time,_ he reflected, _in fact, I think it is long past that. Haven't we been too fearful for too long?_

Maehara stuck his hands in his pockets as he turned the corner and continued walking. People rushed by around him, and he wondered, somewhat randomly, if any of them were 3E students, once, or if they had connections to any. What they thought of those people, and the system itself. And he thought of students long gone now, who he could approach for the current 3E, and who of those would be willing, to put themselves up for the museum. Some names certainly did come to mind, although one of them had the saddest story, and he wasn't sure if it would be such a good idea to stir up her bad memories (though, all things considered, it seemed like her career steeped her in them anyway). Not to mention, he could remember just as many of those they had not been able to reach….

He walked by a gift shop where a man was peering through the window, scrutinizing the display, and would have continued on when something stopped him, and he paused to stare at the man. He seemed to be in his early 20s, and was dressed in clothes that suggested he worked at a factory of some sort. His hair was a particularly dark shade of brown, and he seemed kind. Though the details didn't seem to jibe with anything in his memory, the young man was definitely familiar. Suddenly, he turned to face him, and Maehara jumped. _Great, now I look stupid._ But the turn had allowed him to see sharp blue eyes that now widened as they took him in.

"M-Maehara! " the young man stuttered out. And then, just as suddenly, slapped a hand to his mouth. "Sorry, I mean, Maehara-san!"

Maehara gaped. He continued to stare, trying to remember and then, when he noticed a missing little finger on one of his hands, the memory he was looking for came to the front of his mind. Six years ago, a short, scrawny and undeniably angry boy, the glossy shade of his hair died a sharp and bright blond. Eyes sharper than the ones he faced now, but still just as blue, completing a permanent scowl. Home-done dark blue ink tattoos scrawled over his arms. Harsh words, violent fists, wildness and one hell of an attitude. This man, on the other hand was clearly healthier, and there was a gentleness and maturity about him now, and because of his sleeves it was impossible to say whether or not he still had the tattoos or not. But there was no doubt in Maehara's mind that this man had once been one of the 3E students they had tried to help. One of the ones that had been unreachable.

"Ryuma-kun?"

"Please, you may as well call me Yukine." He laughed awkwardly. "I, well, it's been a little while. How have you been? "

"I've been fine, just fine. Much the same, but that same is pretty awesome. And what about you? You would have come of age last year, right? How does that feel, being a part of society?"

"Well, yeah…I kinda feel that I came of age a long time ago anyway….not that you'd probably believe it, but I've managed to clean up my act a bit now."

"Working?"

"Yeah. Yeah. We've got a couple of good relatives, they help us where the pay from the factory won't stretch…I'm glad of it too. I'm looking after three of my sisters now. One of their birthdays is coming up, actually, which is why I'm here." Yukine pointed at the window of the gift shop, and laughed.

"Ah, I see. Whose birthday is it?"

"Akito's. She's 15. Well, she will turn 16 but yeah, you know what I mean. Ah, and I'm engaged." Yukine dug in his pocket and produced his phone, and after a moment, turned the screen to Maehara, to show a picture of himself with a bonny looking woman about his age. The two of them grinned into the camera, the sunset of wherever they were backlighting them. Nobody would suspect the troubled background of the young man in the picture.

"Natsume. She is utterly wonderful." Yukine supplied with a voice full of love. "I'm feeling like a pretty lucky man now."

"You sure seem like it!" Maehara clapped Yukine on the shoulder. _I'm a little surprised too, actually, but somehow, I feel really accomplished right now._ "I'm pretty proud of you, that you managed to turn your life around like that."

"Yeah, well." Yukine shuffled around a little. "It was a close shave. I was…well, pretty awful. I must have been so much trouble to everyone, but especially to you three. I didn't even realise it at the time, but you were trying so hard to help the 3E we were in….to help me, and well. I just threw it all back in your face, really. And I didn't even know, and I don't think I would have cared if I hadn't had to become responsible for my sisters…."

"Yukine…" to Maehara's utter astonishment, Yukine then bowed deeply.

"If I could, I would really like to make amends to you, and to Isogai-san and Kataoka-san too!"

"You've been trying your best, since then, right?" Maehara asked. Still bent over, Yukine nodded.

"Then, that's atonement enough. Don't punish yourself more, please." Slowly, Yukine straightened at these words.

"I… But, surely it can't be that simple. I did a lot of bad things, and I lashed out against you."

"Well, Yuuma gets that a lot anyway, and Megu's a badass lady, and me, I don't mind so much." Maehara opted for a joking attitude, not wanting Yukine to get too melancholy.

"Obviously, I can't speak for everyone, but yeah, it's fine, really."

"Ah…well, thanks." Yukine absently rubbed the back of his head.

"So, are you on a lunchbreak?"

"Yeah. I figured I could at least take a quick browse of the shops, then go gift shopping quickly _after_ work before getting back to Natsume and the girls. But I'm not really doing much apart from that. Why, do you want to catch up or something?"

"Well, since we've bumped into each other and all, sure. Make up for lost time, and stuff. You can tell me about your pretty lady too."

Yukine blushed at this, but shrugged.

"Well, allright then."

They continued down the street, and talked for a while, Yukine was definitely a lot calmer and settled, and very much content. He was clearly excited about his upcoming wedding, and also obviously cared deeply about his family, and about trying to make amends for his behaviour in one way or another. He had not yet been brave enough to actually go as far as directly contacting classmates to apologise, but he was nearing it. And he was also saving up to get his tattoos removed. Until then, he relied solely on long sleeves. He also asked Maehara lots about his life, and he was happy to share. They also talked a lot about all sorts of random and silly things, as if catching up on the chances Yukine had 'thrown back in their faces' at the time and eventually, the conversation circled right back to 3E in general.

"So, do you still do all that mentoring business? There's a 3E now, right?"

"Yeah, we are actually. It's been quite unique too. They've got this big project going on, as well. It's picking up a lot of pace too, and so it might actually work."

"What do you mean, Maehara-san?" Yukine look utterly confused. It could just be he hadn't understood what his words specifically referred to, but Maehara figured it to be more likely that he just had no idea about it at all.

"I'm taking it that that means you haven't heard of 'Ending the End Class'?"

"No…is that the big project you're referring to? Ending the…..?"

"End Class. As in, 3E of Kunugigaoka Junior High." Maehara waited for the penny to drop, and sure enough, it did.

"Woah, seriously, they're trying to do that?"

"Yep, pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah…" Yukine sighed, and looked off to the distance for a moment. _Atonement,_ Maehara thought. _Making amends. Perhaps this museum could work both ways, so that not only am I helping them, but I am finally getting the chance to help someone who couldn't be helped before._

"Say, Yukine." Maehara said. "If you were interested, then there _is_ a way that you could help them that'd really, really be appreciated…"

 **…**

As Tada and Hiro walked out of Karasuma's hospital room and headed towards the lift, he asked her about the photo album.

"Hey, do you think it's okay for me to borrow the album off you to use for the festival? Mum's 3E album, I mean?"

"Why?" Hiro asked. They stopped in front of the lift, and pressed the button to call it to that floor. "I mean, I don't mind as such, but why?"

"Well, I thought it would be nice to use that as the source of the 3E-time photograph that we'd have of those of our 'museum attractions'. I mean, we've got a few."

"Yeah…I can't believe that Karma-san and Manami-san actually agreed even before you explained it to them properly." Hiro laughed, referring to a quick phone conversation Tada'd had while they were walking from school to the hospital. Tada grinned back.

"I guess that's them for you. Plus, they've done pretty well for themselves so they fit the definition of what we're looking for, in a way. As do Yuuma-san and the others."

"Mhm." Hiro nodded and considered this. A girl came out of a room further down the corridor and sauntered slowly in their direction, her school bag swinging slightly from where it was slung onto her shoulder. Her other hand held onto the stick of a lollipop that was in her mouth. She stopped next to Hiro and stared at the lift door. Then, she turned to stare at Hiro with one intense purple eye, the other having been covered by her messy bright-white bangs. The rest of her hair brushed her shoulders, and was just as messy. The intensity of it contrasted with her facial expression, which was almost carefully blank.

"Yv cawwed va lif?" she mumbled around the lollipop. Hiro blinked at her, but she didn't seem to notice their confusion. A moment passed where the twins stared at the girl, and in the end, Tada sighed. _This could go on forever if I do not do anything about it…_

"Uhm, could you repeat that, please? You were a bit muffled…"

The girl sighed, but did pull the lollipop out of her mouth, revealing it to be bright red, most likely strawberry flavoured. Tada noticed she had two small beauty marks-one near her lip and the other on her chin.

"You called the lift?" she asked again, clearer this time. Tada nodded.

"Yeah, we did. I think someone else above us called it as well though, so it might take a while."

"Mmmkay." The girl put the lollipop back in her mouth, and Tada sweat-dropped a little. Then, she returned to staring at the lift door. Tada and Hiro exchanged a look. Somehow, it felt a bit odd to start up their conversation while the girl was still there, so they just shrugged at each other and stood in silence. Eventually, the lift came and Hiro pressed the button to open the door. Four people came out, and Tada, Hiro and the other girl went in. Before either of them could reach for the button, the girl pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Ah, that's where we're going!" Tada exclaimed, then regretted it. _That wasn't needed!_ The girl raised her visible eyebrow, and considered him, before shrugging. She let go of her lollipop, and just held it with her mouth.

"You go to Kunugigaoka." She stated. Somehow, miraculously, her voice was clearer, even if it did sound a little bored. Tada blinked, and looked at Hiro. She seemed to have no clue either.

"Uh, yeah." He answered. He thought for a moment. The girl seemed a bit older than the two of them, so he surmised she was in high school. "Did you go there once?"

"Once." She repeated. Something stole across her face, but all too quickly the blank expression was back. Hiro tapped Tada, and when he turned to her she signed: _A former 3E student, most likely._

Tada nodded at her. The girl just stared at them, the sign language having clearly caught her attention, even if her face did not betray it. At that moment, the lift arrived at the second floor, as someone else had called it. Two young children, accompanied by a teenager wearing the uniform to a different middle school came on, and they all started chatting about something, ignoring their presence. The lift started to move again and Tada returned to the conversation (if it could even be called that) at hand.

"I see. So…I'm guessing you were in 3E then? Unless you decided to opt-out?"

The girl shrugged lazily.

"What's it matter to you?" She asked, a little harsh but mostly just in a slow drawl.

"Well, I'm in 3E too." He said.

"She isn't?" The girl pulled the lollipop out of her mouth to point at Hiro, before rapidly putting it back in. Hiro shook her head.

"No, I'm in 3A."

"Ehhhh…..?" The girl nodded. "Interesting…..Interesting…" she trailed off, and looked at the lift door, thought it was fairly clear that was not what she saw.

"Did…did you have a hard time there?" Hiro asked softly. The girl's one-eyed gaze whipped back to her suddenly.

"Who doesn't?" she asked. "Or perhaps….the question is….who _won't_?"

There was a real heaviness in this statement, and it dulled the atmosphere. They shuffled uncomfortably, and Tada looked over at Hiro. She just shrugged at him and he sighed. The girl had no reaction at all, and they remained awkward. Tada was only jolted out of it when the lift reached the first floor and two people got on.

"If we're lucky, then maybe there won't be any more who have to go through it." He said, trying not to feel like a relentless advertiser. The girl reacted strongly to this, her visible eye widening and something akin to surprise rippling across her face. Then, suddenly, she smiled, the shape of it sharp and mysterious against her face. She pulled the lollipop away from her mouth.

"'Ending the End Class'" she half-laughed. "I certainly didn't expect I'd actually run into one of the kids responsible for that."

"So…you've heard of us?" he ventured. The girl shrugged heavily.

"S'pose so. Didn't think too much about it but…" she thought for a moment, before smiling foxily again. "Still, it can only be a good thing. I'm, how shall I say this? _Glad_ , that you're doing it."

"Ah, no, it's not just me, obviously." Tada rushed to clarify as they final reached the ground floor and everyone got off. "It's all of us, as a class."

"Yeah, yeah, I gathered that much." The girl said. She bit off the sweet part of the lollipop from the stick and then threw the stick into a nearby bin as they walked towards the exit. She then pulled out another one from the pocket of her cream coloured cardigan, and after unwrapping it (and thus revealing it to be green this time), popped it in her mouth. Then, she mumbled something.

This time, Tada just waited. Sure enough, she soon realised they hadn't understood her, and took the lollipop out of her mouth, somehow managing to look as if it was a massive inconvenience for her to do such a thing. Now outside, they stopped and went over to a side, the girl leaning against a wall before speaking again.

"So, what've you all been up to then, lately?" she half-asked, half yawned. "Anything interesting?"

"Well, we're going to be making a museum relating to 3E Alumni for our school festival attraction." _What the hell, I may as well just ask her._ "Are you interested in it?"

"Huh?" The girl blinked. "A museum?"

"Yeah, a museum. To celebrate those who went to 3E and to prove that we aren't as hopeless as we're painted to be. Honestly, we only came up with the idea today-well, actually, it was Hana Aoshima-Chan's idea, and you'll probably, or rather, definitely be talking to her if you did agree-but we are already looking for people who could help us with the museum, and perhaps be an actual part of it."

The girl appeared to have registered nothing in particular, though her eyes did widen momentarily at the mention of Hana's name, before she frowned for a moment, as if trying to remember something. All of this was somewhat imperceptible though, and her blank expression returned so quickly that Tada wondered if perhaps he had imagined it. In any case, after he had babbled out his case, yet another incredibly awkward silence came, and they all stood around again uselessly. Not that the girl seemed to bothered by this as she watched them with her one exposed eye.

"Perhaps you should try introducing yourselves to each other first?" Hiro eventually suggested, face almost deadpan. Tada gawped at her for a moment, the words taking a moment to register, and then laughed sheepishly. _Should have thought of that!_

"Anyway, before saying any more about that, my name's Tadaomi Kitakawa, but you can just call me Tada. That's my sister, Chihiro."

"If you want, you can call me Hiro," Hiro put in. "But it's fine either way."

"Shiki Yoshitsune. No need for formalities." The girl returned.

"Uhm…" _It'd be weird to just address her as 'Shiki' straight off the bat. "_ So, is 'Shiki-sempai' alright with you, then?"

Shiki's mouth twitched slightly, although whether this was amusement or annoyance was not clear. Tada just decided to assume amusement.

"Yeah, whatever." She shrugged eventually. She looked at the lollipop in her hand, then back at Tada and Hiro.

"So, a museum. Presumably, you're not just letting any old alumni in, are you? After all, it's a _museum_. Not sure if I'd fit in well with that image but….well, you're helping the future generation."

"So," Tada asked eagerly. "You'll agree to join? Well, consider it?"

"Sure, I guess. I guess that means you'll have questions for me. Both then and now." Shiki shrugged, and stared out into the road, watching traffic and people bustle and whizz by. Then, something seemed to occur to her, and she looked down at her watch suddenly.

"I have a train to catch. If there's some sort of interview, I'll have to catch you another time. See ya." With that, she turned on her heel with a swiftness that seemed contradictory, somehow and she began to walk away.

"Wait!" Tada called out. "How will you reach us?"

Shiki stopped for a moment, then turned to look over her shoulder, her bright eye boring into him.

"There's the blog, right? Besides, I know where you all are."

Once again, Shiki turned away and she walked away before he could think of anything to say, and it did not take very long for her to disappear from their sight. Once she did, Tada let out the huge sigh he had been unconsciously been holding in. Hiro regarded him with amusement.

"Overzealous much?" she asked, though there was a friendly, teasing note in her voice. Tada pouted.

"I was trying to be restrained. I don't want to be a walking commercial, after all!"

"Yeah, I could tell. You weren't that bad, really." Hiro laughed, letting him off the hook. "Still, she's a pretty odd fish, isn't she?"

"Suppose so, yeah." Tada agreed. "Really sad, too. Like she has a whole lot of baggage about something."

"I guess we'd know about that, huh?" Hiro wistfully said. They thought about this for a moment. _Mum, Dad….._

"Anyway, if you want the photo album, you can have it. I don't mind." Hiro said, bringing them back around to what they had been talking about before Shiki had randomly intruded upon their lives.

"Eh, really? You sure? Thank you!" Though he felt a bit bad about it, Tada found himself surprised by this.

"Yeah, I don't mind. So long as I get it back, but that goes without saying, no? In any case, if Shiki's anything to go by, you guys are probably going to be meeting a lot of interesting people and finding out a lot of interesting things. I think Mama wouldn't mind her photographs being used for something like this, so yeah. I can't wait to see how your 3E Museum turns out."

"Yeah, I can't wait either."

* * *

 **Supplementary OCs introduced this chapter: **

**Yukine Ryuma (Belongs to: 2)**

 **Shiki Yoshitsune (Belongs to: Tea In The Summer)**

 **Aaand it is here! One of the major arcs of the story is here! And now based on what happened this chapter, you should know why I opened that supplementary SYOC a while back =D. So, what do you think of the idea? Is it what you expected, or did it come out of the blue? (I'm guessing the latter, but still). In my mind, the OCs I collected (and some that I made myself to fill up the museum, as it were) are 'Museum OCs' but for consistency, when I intro the rest of ones that got given to me, I'll just refer to them as 'supplementary OCs' for consistency/ simplicity.**

 **Anyway, the 'Welcome to the Museum' arc will basically consist of everything leading up to and during the festival itself, so there's a lot for you to look forward to! And to think about, I'd imagine. Incidentally, having this as a multi-parter also saves me having to think up titles for a while, but that being said, I'll probably end up coming up with 'alternate' titles for the chapters anyway. Perhaps I'll stick them in an authors note somewhere. I don't know =P**

 **Okay, enough from me! As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave me feedback!**


	49. Welcome to the Museum, part 2

**So...has anyone ever gone into an exam and forgotten most if not all the things they needed to know for it? This is is what happened to me on Tuesday with the topic I'd studied for the unseen essay portion of the exam...*sigh* On the bright side, the multiple choice questions were not that bad...meh, anyway, enough about me- here is the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! I certainly enjoyed writing it (it made me feel better about life, that is for sure)!**

* * *

Sugaya was rearranging some displays that afternoon when Reimiya, Ayako, Akira and Hana came in looking for him, so he didn't notice them at first. But one of his part time workers, a merry natured high school girl called Aimi Tomoki, had spotted them, and their chattering soon caught his attention, so he left what he was doing and went over to where they were.

"Ah, back again, I see?" he said cheerily. "More browsing? I put some new stuff up since the last time, right, Aimi-Chan?"

"Yup!" she agreed happily, a lock of long blond hair falling over her face. She tucked it back behind her ear and grinned again.

"We might take a look later, Sugaya-san, but truth is, we're here for more posters!" Ayako proclaimed. Akira punctuated this by pulling out a couple of plastic wallets out of her school bag.

"Ah, cool. What are they for this time? For the project?"

"Yes and no," Ayako replied. "They're adverts for our school festival attraction."

"Oh yeah!" Sugaya mentally face palmed. "It's coming up to that time of year already! What are you going to be doing? A forest ramen restaurant like our class did? Did you know about that anyway?"

"Yeah, Tada-san mentioned that." Akira nodded.

"But we're not doing that. Well, not completely. We're doing a museum." Hana proclaimed. "A museum about us, and 3E in general."

The way she said this, and the way her eyes shone as she did, told Sugaya that the museum had been an idea put forward by little Hana. Somehow, he did not find this surprising at all.

"Oooh, that's uniqu-wait. Wait, wait, wait!" Tomoki's pale green eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head as she stared at the four girls. They all looked at back at her, confused. _Huh?_ Sugaya was not any less confused.

"3E….Oh my gosh, you guys are the 'Ending the End Class' 3E, aren't you?" she asked eagerly. _Ah, of course. Silly me, forgetting that._

"Yes…." Ayako said, looking a little bowled over by Tomoki's enthusiasm, which said something, given that Ayako was a bit of a force of nature herself.

"That's…wow, that's so cool!" Tomoki exclaimed. "I can't really say much about what I think of your project though, because truth be told the last time I heard about it I didn't really pay much attention to it before forgetting it again until now, but yeah. I'm happy that you're all doing it. "

"Thanks!" Ayako grinned back. "Perhaps you should look us up properly."

"Oh, I will!" Tomoki said cheerfully. She then took out her small sketchbook from her pocket and flipped to a new page, taking the pencil out from the spiral binding, and once again the four girls were left looking stumped as she began to sketch.

"Aimi-Chan, think you're up to manning the till for me?" Sugaya asked, chuckling. Aimi paused and looked up at him, smiling sheepishly.

"Ah, yeah, posters! Right, sure!" Aimi saluted him and the girls with the hand holding the sketchbook. "Good luck with the museum!"

"Thank you!" Hana said for all of them as they went behind the till and into his office. He noticed how messy it was and shoved some of the paperwork to a side. Paperwork was boring, but necessary. But these guys were more important to him, and so he'd do that later.

"So," he said as he set up chairs for them and then got the computer going. "What is it you need to advertise?"

"Well first, we need a poster to reach the 3E alumni, to apply for the museum." Hana explained. "We can reach a lot of people through Isogai-san and the others, like you and Fumiko-sempai, for example. But others from classes before they started to mentor, or those who perhaps were not able to be reached by them before, we need another way of getting to them, right?"

"I've already done a little online thing, via the blog." Ayako said, showing him it on her phone. "This is just to supplement it."

"And we were also thinking that we should do the general advert for the festival here now as well." Akira put in. "So what we'd be handing out once we've got all our so called 'museum attractions' and the school festival is nearly upon us. So, to get people to the museum itself. "

"If that isn't too much trouble, that is?" Reimiya finished up. Sugaya shook his head.

"No, no, that's fine. So, let's get cracking, shall we? I can see that you brought along some ideas already-ah, and Ayako-Chan, keep that page up on your phone, okay? I think it'll be good to have that as a reference."

With that, they spent a few good hours pulling together the two different posters that the class needed and tweaking the design, and as they did so they chatted, and Sugaya found out that not only was the museum Hana's brainchild, but that they'd already managed to get a few people from the thirty years ago 3E on-board to be 'museum attractions', including Isogai, Maehara and Megu, as well as Karma and Manami. And they'd also already managed to talk to a few outside of that, too.

"So," he said casually. "Don't suppose that I could be a part of the museum too?"

"Well, sure!" Ayako agreed. "What do you think, guys?"

"I can't imagine why we'd do otherwise." Reimiya said.

"I'm sure Tada-san and the others would agree with that." Akira put in.

"Coolio. So," he said as he clicked and dragged things on the screen. "What stuff do you need from me?"

"A photo of you now, a photo from back then-for you, since you were in Tada-san's mum's class, we're using the class album for that- and some information about you getting from 3E to here. And any other bits you want to bring in to go with that. "Hana answered.

 _The photo album? That same one we all made as a class?_ He figured it was a slightly stupid question, so he decided not to ask it. Even so, he wondered. _If it's that particular album, being shown to that particular class…..ah, I don't know. I'll think about it later._

"I could bring along some of the shop displays that we're not using. Would that count as something?"

"Exactly! And, I don't think it'd be too much of an issue if you brought along some business cards or something, for this shop."

"That can be done." Sugaya said. He paused for a moment to locate a post-it note and his fish-shaped pen, and scribbled a note about the museum. Then, they got straight back to work.

When they were finished, he printed off both A4 versions and smaller hand-out versions of the poster that was asking former 3E members to apply to the museum, and they decided that he would save the actual museum adverts for when it was nearing the time to get people to attend.

"Thank you so much!" Hana said for all of them as they left, Sugaya personally seeing them out of the door.

"Not a problem!" he said, because of course it wasn't. Once they left, he walked over to the great painting and looked at it. _I think you'd all agree with me, right? I'm sure you would._ Aimi came up to him and stood next to him for a moment, and she looked at the painting without saying anything for a while.

"You know, I think this is my favourite thing out of all the things you've made in this shop. "

"It's mine, too." Sugaya looked at his part time worker, and thought of something. "Come back to the till a moment."

"Hmm?" Aimi tilted her head curiously and she followed him to the till, where he had left his copies of the printed out posters, and he plucked one of the handouts from the pile, before then handing the two A4 ones to her along with it.

"Stick the two larger ones where you think they'll be best placed. And the small one…well, keep it yourself."

Aimi frowned at the posters, then began to read the smaller one. It did not take long for a huge smile to spread over her face, and she nodded once at the poster before tucking it carefully into her sketchbook. Sugaya chuckled at her choice of storage place, but knew that was the place it would be the safest. Once it was safe, she beamed up at him.

"Right, I'm on it!" she saluted him, and then ran off. He chuckled again, and then sat down behind the till. _I can't wait to see the museum and how it turns out._

 **…**

"A museum?"

With some difficulty, Hasegawa and the others all crowded around Fujimura's phone, which was open on the Ending the End Class blog. _Why the hell did he not bring in his laptop?_ He didn't bother entertaining that thought though, because he knew that it was being repaired- it was just the frustration of it that made him think of it, so instead he just asked Fujimura to hand him the phone and he looked at the post. It was a poster-type advert, apparently asking for help from any former 3E members in relation to the museum.

"Surely that's not allowed?" Otonashi frowned. "I mean, it's a school festival."

"You forget we're in Kunugigaoka, Otonashi-kun." Hasegawa patiently said. "The school festival is more than just that for each class. It's a chance to set yourself up in good stead for the future- not just in terms of the skills that you get from handling the attraction your class is handling, but in terms of contacts. And if you can get sponsors to help bear the costs, even better. You should know this."

"Yeah, I guess because it's _them_ I didn't think of it this way…"

"That's true, that's true!" Otsuka clucked. "If only we'd known about this earlier though, perhaps we could have made them back out or something. Damn that stupid stutterer, going and getting himself caught."

"We'll just have to manage without him." Hasegawa said simply, hiding his annoyance. In truth, he felt the same as Otsuka did. He had not heard anything from Hidaka for a few weeks, and then he'd happened to see Hidaka bump into some of his classmates one morning on the way to school and flinch, looking ashamed, and that had told him everything he'd needed to know. It was a shame, for he had been useful for a while, but that had clearly been outlived and so he put it behind him. Simple as. And as Hidaka hadn't performed well enough to even get back to the main campus the typical way, as the Aida who'd refused him had done, that just proved his point further. _Really pitiful._

"So….what will we do about this?" Maeda asked. "Can we just leave them to it?"

"I…hmm…." Hasegawa studied the advertisement. _Museum. What are they thinking they'll achieve with something like that, exactly?_

"Well, museums kinda have a reputation for being fusty and old-person centred, right? And being up there, that's kind of a bad combination. So it could easily be said that they're being stupid!" Maeda suggested.

"I'd argue that museums are a great educational resource but yes, I get it." Fujimura nodded. "It would be easy to discourage people from going, at least those we can reach. "

"Exactly." Hasegawa agreed. _Though, a museum's a pretty original idea for a school festival. And though I am not going to help them by visiting it, I sort of want to see how it will work out._

"Plus, from the sounds of it, it's a museum centred on _freaking 3E students_! Who in their right minds would pick a bunch of losers as their attraction!?" Otsuka sniggered.

"Exactly!" Maeda crowed.

"Still," Otonashi put in. "I don't see why we can't achieve that by promoting the main campus attractions, or at least our class's one, so that it goes above theirs. We can't just deride them, it won't mean anything if we don't have something really spectacular to counter it. Does that make sense?"

"I guess…." Fujimura, Otsuka and Maeda frowned. _Good, yes, that makes sense. It's not as if this 3E is completely weak after all. They seem to keep bouncing back and bouncing back._ They, along with Otonashi, then turned to look at him, and he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before delivering his verdict.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

 **…**

Satoru Nigita, from the 3E of 29 years ago, came right up to the campus to see them at lunchtime. Somewhat unexpectedly, Isogai came along too. When they had come, Ichijou had looked a little dazed upon their arrival, and had remarked that she'd probably need to start getting used to unexpected visitors-Sugaya with the art displays and a current photo for them to store, Oshiro coming along to refresh his memory about the campus (for he had also offered to be one of the ones to help with the heavy lifting) bringing along Kousuke Sawada for them to meet and more recently, Izzy's rather amazingly whirlwind-esque neighbours Yuuya and Naoya (who had ended up Ruko's new real-life OTP by the time they had left) - and had hurriedly retired to the staffroom with reiterations that if she was needed, she was to be fetched immediately. Either way, it did not take long for all of them to gravitate around Isogai with questions and greetings and the collective fondness and gratitude they all had for him, and it was truly a sight to see.

"Woah, "Isogai laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "This feels like being a middle schooler again!"

"Oh, sorry! Did we crowd you much?" Ayako stepped back a little and laughed, and Isogai laughed with her.

"No, no, it's fine." Isogai laughed.

"Apparently Isogai was incredibly popular with the entire school." Tada told them, thinking of the many stories he had been told by his mother, and then more recently by Isogai, Megu and Maehara. "But of course, being a lifelong Ikemen means he'll downplay it all."

"Ah, I don't think I was that great…"

"Ah! Tada's right!" Tsukuda grinned, pointing at him dramatically. "You _are_ downplaying it!"

"You guys seem like a merry class." Nigita, who hadn't said anything until that point, commented. His pale green-grey eyes sparkled as he took them in. _Yeah, we are._ Even the more onlooker-ish types like Yukiyama and Kitabayashi were merry. Only Hidaka was hesitant, but though Tada felt bad he found himself unable to easily reach out and pull him in as he had done so before, and this made him feel a little bad, even as he quashed it.

"That's one way of putting it. Thanks so much for coming all the way up here to meet us, Nigita-san." Eriko said gratefully, stepping forward on behalf of them all, as she had been the one to have contacted him in the first place.

"Ah, it's not a problem. I'm happy you even decided to request my help on this. This campus seems to have changed quite a bit, but at the same time it really hasn't." he mused.

"Wait!" All eyes turned to Tsuwabuki, who was staring at Nigita with a puzzled look. "I recognise you…I think?"

Nigita tipped his head in confusion, a gesture that made him seem youthful as he considered this, and then his face cleared.

"Aha! Tsuwabuki-san's son! Daichi-kun, was it?"

"Yes!" Tsuwabuki nodded vigorously at this. Nigita grinned. _Well, this is unexpected._

"Well, you've grown a lot since the last time I saw you with your father. You were this small the last time I saw you." Nigita indicated this with his hand. "How is he, anyway?"

"Meh…." Tsuwabuki considered. "Could be better, but he's mostly fine."

"That's good to hear, that is."

"You two _know_ each other?" Eriko asked, flabbergasted. "I didn't know that!"

"Well, it's not so much we know each other as such, more that I've only met him a couple of times before, right, Nigita-san?"

"Yes, that's right. I've worked with Daichi-kun's father before, at Tokyo University."

"Ah, so are you a palaeontologist too?" Kinomoto asked. Nigita shook his head at that as he sat down on the seat Eriko had pulled out. Isogai, observing, went and perched on Fuyumi's desk, earning a kind smile from the girl as he did so.

"No, an archaeologist. But our careers have crossed over a lot-to put it simply, mainly because we both have a lot of digging to do. But with that being said, in recent years, I've mainly been lecturing younger students on how digs work and the history behind things they may discover, rather than actually going out on digs and making new discoveries myself, but I'm pretty content with that, really. I'd always assumed that actual archaeology would be little more than a fanciful career for me, so the fact that in a sense, I'm still doing it is pretty great to me."

There was a warmth and happiness in Nigita's voice as he said this, a fundamental belief in the good of the world. He was truly content in the life he had created for himself and was able to weather the bad by holding on tightly to what was good, and not forgetting it. _The type of adult we should all be, I guess._ As he continued to talk more, he settled his bag on his lap and pulled out a few items.

"Okay," he said after he'd explained a little more about his career and how he'd ended up there. "Eriko-Chan-and Kataoka-sempai too actually- mentioned that you'd need pictures, one of me now and one from when I was in that year. I managed to find a good candid one from my 3E year, but the present day one is just the university website one- I hope that's okay? I also brought along some photographs and photocopies of paper abstracts that you could use, too."

"Ah, this is fine, perfect, really." Tada took the two photos of Nigita while Eriko looked through the other things. The photo of the middle schooler Nigita showed a boy with short straight dark-green hair that curled slightly at the ends, staring into the camera with a honest smile, his uniform clean and pressed. He had a youthful, honest air about him, which remained in both the live present-day version of Nigita and the photographic version. The only real physical differences were that as an adult, Nigita's cowlicks were not as prominent and some of the childish softness about his face had gone.

"Why are there only abstracts of these papers?" Kinomoto asked, having gone over with a few of the others to look at the papers Eriko was looking for.

"It's a copyright thing." Tsukuda said before Nigita could answer. "You're not really meant to share out journal articles to random members of the public. You either have to pay upfront, be a subscriber or attend a university that allows you access to the paper in order to do that, pretty much."

"That strikes me as a bit stupid." Hirigi remarked.

"It is," Nigita agreed, "But it's the rules."

"That's right." Tada conceded. "Even Manami-san said the same thing to me, which is only why she emailed me PDFs that contained the abstracts."

"Pfft." Was all Hirigi had to say in response to this.

Tada handed over the two photographs of Nigita to Eriko, who then carefully tidied the pile of things that Nigita had given them before going over to Fuyumi, who took out a new paperclip, a sticky label, a pen and a plastic wallet.

"Yukimura-san is our admin, in a sense." Eriko told Nigita. "She sorts out all the little details for us and keeps things organised."

Nigita nodded approvingly as he watched Fuyumi at work, putting all his things together and then slipping it in with the various notes for other people that she already had.

"I like that." He said. "Which reminds me, I hope you don't mind me troubling you further by giving you one more person to add to your museum?"

"That's no problem at all." Fuyumi smiled. "It's actually quite helpful."

"Who is this person you want to add?" Hana asked.

"My friend, a classmate from the same class as me. Sayo Okazaki. She couldn't come with me, she's pretty busy at the international school she teaches in, but she sent me some photos for me to bring in, the brochure for her school and also her contact details. Oh, and one of her exams."

"One of her exams?" Tada quizzically echoed.

"Yeah. Okazaki-san heard about a boy in Kataoka-sempai's class….yours too, obviously, Isogai-sempai." Isogai nodded at the acknowledgment and Nigita continued. "He took the Kunugigaoka High transfer students exam and passed with flying colours, so she had ideas about doing the same, and managed to. She was one of the high achievers too, which she was pretty proud of. "

"Ahh, so she fell under the spell of Karma-san." When Nigita looked at him quizzically, he sweat dropped. "My friend's dad is the person you're talking about, who inspired your classmate. He was….kinda fiendish. Legendary. Still is, actually. My friend takes after him."

"That description is apt." Isogai laughed.

"I've not met Akabane-san's father so I obviously don't know for sure….but since we've all encountered Akabane-san himself….. I say I agree with that." Eriko shuddered. Kaori patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Ah," Nigita said simply, before handing over the leaflet, exam paper and the two photos to Fuyumi. Knowing they were curious, Fuyumi held up the two photographs, showing a freckle-faced, confident looking female sporting a lilac pixie-cut. Tada wondered what she was like.

"Ah, the contact details. Okazaki-san said she'd probably email you herself, but she doesn't mind one of you making the first move, as it were. So, should I give them to one of you guys or to Mission Control over here?"

Fuyumi beamed at the 'Mission Control' label, and pointed over to Tada.

"The Representatives and Aoshima-san are handling most of the contacting-3E alumni matters. I just store everything, make notes and keep it all in order."

"That sounds fine to me." Nigita said, handing the small card over to Tada, who pocketed it.

"All this reminds me I have a couple of details to pass on too." Isogai piped up. "I got into contact with one of the members of the 3E of 15 years ago- his name is Seiji Kashima. He didn't know about the project, but now he does, so he's looking into it and seeing what it's about himself. He's especially interested because he still has a sister in the school- your year, actually. He said he'll definitely come and help you with the set-up for sure, so he'll contact you, but I figured I could just give you a heads-up about him. "

"Cool." Tada nodded. "Don't suppose you have any pictures?"

"Well….his time in Kunugigaoka wasn't…the best time for him, I guess. He knows he has some photos from the time period at his parents' house, and as for recent ones, the best one is here."

Isogai took out his phone and clicked a few times, then brought up a website that seemed to relate to a charity for putting young offenders back on track. The picture was one of many on a page about different events, and the one that showed Seiji Kashima was one where he was surrounded by teenagers of different ages. The man was muscular and slightly tan, and looked weary even as he smiled along with the teenagers-a lot older than his years, his hazel eyes notably surrounded by wrinkles that shouldn't have been there. Isogai looked a little sad as he himself re-studied the picture. Tada mentally noted the web address, so that they could get the picture later, and noticed Eriko writing it down too.

"He does good work here. He hasn't had things easy, and admittedly some of his undoing was done by Kashima-kun himself….but he told me to tell you that even though that's the case, he definitely supports you and wants to help."

"What did he do that's so bad, then?" Ayako wanted to know. Isogai was about to answer, but then hesitated.

"It's okay, you don't need to tell us. If he wants to, then he can. "Tada reassured. "But, you mentioned he had a sister on the main campus?"

"There was a Kashima in our class last year, remember, Tada?" Tsukuda said.

"Uhhh….."

"Does that even matter though?" Kuroba asked.

"Not as such….I'm just curious about it." Tada said, shrugging, slightly embarrassed.

"It's understandable to be." Hana commented. No doubt she was thinking of her own brother, and Asami too. "And…whatever bad thing he's done, this museum could be the thing to allow him to feel he's forgiven. Isogai-san, will you pass that onto Kashima-san?"

Isogai inclined his head respectfully.

"Of course." He agreed. There was a moment of silence, and then he thought of something.

"Ah, Tada-kun, you mentioned to me that you were going to Matsuraiken to ask for the recipe for the ramen we did during our own school festival. When will you be going? If need be, I could take you."

"You don't need to do that, Yuuma-san. I know how to get there. I'm going to go today, and I'm taking Akira-Chan, Haru-Chan and Hirigi-kun too- right, guys?"

"Yep!" Hirigi said for all of them.

"We decided that for whatever isn't accounted for by Fumiko-sempai's snacks and the sweet treats Tada-kun'll make for the last day of the festival would be made up for by the attraction of the forest ramen. " Haru explained. "And since we all know how to cook, we'll take care of that."

"I see, I see." Isogai nodded. "Then, what about Terasaka? That's a bit further out, and I won't have time to get my car to drive any of you there, but Hiroto wants you to know that he could if you were going to take up that offer. Just tell him when you're going."

"We could do that today as well." Eriko said. "I don't mind going. But maybe a couple of others should come with me too. It'll make more sense to. "

"Then I will come." Hana said, quiet but firm. Eriko nodded at that.

"C-Could I come along, too?"

"Miya-Chan?!" Reno's shock echoed all their thoughts, not having expected that.

"I want to go. I'd like to actually help in bringing people to the museum. "She earnestly said.

"B-but it's a _mechanic's_ place. And it's far away! I don't even know where you'll be or anything!" Reno protested.

"An auto repair shop is _not_ the criminal underground, you know." Ruko deadpanned. Reno narrowed his eyes at her snarkily.

"That isn't what I meant." He sighed heavily.

"And in any case, Maehara-san be the one taking us." Reimiya said to try and reassure him. It didn't seem to work, for Reno looked ready to tear out his own hair.

"At least let me come with you, then!"

"I don't mind that-" Eriko started, but Reimiya firmly shook her head.

"Y-You have cleaning duty anyway, Reno. It wouldn't be fair to swap with someone else whose had it recently." Her eyes had a resolve around them, and so Tada knew that what she meant was 'I can do this myself, give me the chance'. And naturally, Reno saw this, because his shoulders slumped and he shrugged heavily.

"Okay, fine. Fine. "He smiled at Reimiya, and ruffled her hair. She smiled sunnily up at him.

"Okay so it will be me, Hana-san and Reimiya-san going over to visit this Terasaka-san." Eriko proclaimed. "Tada-san, will you give a message to Hiroto-san."

"Sure." Tada said, getting his phone out to do just that.

"Well, I don't want to take up more of your time when you've got things to do, and I have some other bits that need doing, so I will be off then. If you need any more help, let one of us know, okay?"

"The same goes with me." Nigita said, having been silent for a while now. "You have my details, otherwise you can get me via Kataoka-sempai or Eriko-Chan. Good luck with the museum. "

"Thank you!" Tada said. He went out with Tsukuda and Hana to walk Nigita and Isogai to the door, and then they came back in and sat down to discuss the next set of plans for the museum and have lunch while doing so.

* * *

 **Supplementary OCs introduced this chapter:**

 **-Aimi Tomoki (belongs to: AliceKuroNeko)** **-Seiji Kashima (belongs to: CrazyRabbit2)- actually, this was another iffy case just like with how I initially introduced Kinomoto, but I describe Seiji in quite some detail in this chapter, so again, I figured it counts. But of course, he will get his first appearance in due time.**

 **(((Also, because this site doesn't seem to like Seiji's creator penname, as exhibited by the last chapter where Yukine was introduced, I wrote it slightly differently this time. )))**

 **Also, though he isn't one of the OCs I gained via the supplementary SYOC, Satoru Nigita is not one of my own. Rather, he was very kindly given to me by Adamant, the author of 'Judecca' which is currently the fanfic with the most chapters in this fandom's archive, and also one of the most amazing. If any of you remember the 'Bread and Soup' chapter, you'll notice that Nigita was referred to there as well, though not by name, and I've also explained what part of Judecca I borrowed him from in the authors note of that chapter. Anyway, again, many thanks to Adamant for allowing me to use this OC! ((If you are reading this, I hope you like the reason I asked for him))**

 **((And to everyone else, if you have yet to start reading 'Judecca', then hurry up and do it. Rather than having a 'notice me, sempai!' moment, this is a very major 'everybody, notice sempai!' moment, so yeah. Check it out. ))**

 **In any case, though not much happened in this (all things considered, especially when I think of some of the things that'll happen in this arc), I hope you found this chapter interesting anyway, and that you liked it. As always, please do leave feedback!**


	50. Welcome to the Museum, part 3

"Is that goldfish actually alive?"

Of course, Terasaka knew that the goldfish was alive and well- he hadn't spend most of his adult life working with one of his best friends who'd happened to have a lot of children to not know something like that- but this goldfish was particularly unsettling because rather than swimming around and occasionally going 'glub' like most goldfish did before dying and floating at the top of the bowl, this one just seemed to _sit_ in the water, perfectly happy to watch him while enclosed in the fishbowl held by its owner, a six year old girl who was currently incredibly offended by his insinuation.

"Don't be silly! Aoi isn't _dead_ , Terry! He's just watching you. He wants to fix motorbikes too when he grows up." Kiyono Yoshida announced, fixing him with a very annoyed gaze. And though he was used to things like this too, he could not help but sweat-drop. _Still, 'least she's not calling me 'Terabaka' like that goddamn Karma still insists on calling me._

"Right…."

"Yo, Terasaka, Taisei! Any of you in there?" Maehara's voice distracted Terasaka from the need to think of something more useful to say. Kiyono's odd eyes registered surprise as she gave him an odd look.

"Yeah, I'm in here! "

Maehara appeared almost immediately, with four middle schoolers behind him. One was a boy with a somewhat tousled afro and bright blue eyes, while the other three were girls- two of them were tiny, one of them made even more so by the stripy red-and-orange scarf she had looped around her neck while the other girl was of average height with brown hair and eyes, and a stoic air about her that oddly made him think of Megu, even though this kid looked nothing like her.

"Who're you?" Kiyono asked for him. Maehara laughed, and went over to the worktop to ruffle Kiyono's hair.

"Oh, these guys are just friends of mine; they need some help from Terasaka." Maehara looked down at the fish. "So, how's your little fish?"

"Aoi's watching Terry to learn from him." Kiyono informed him. Maehara grinned at her again.

"Good to know." He moved back to stand next to the four middle schoolers, and that was when Terasaka noticed that they were wearing Kunugigaoka's Junior High uniform. He eased back from his work and frowned at them. He might have been a lout, but, contrary to most assumptions, he was _not_ stupid.

"These kids are Kurahashi's kid's classmates, aren't they?" he asked eventually.

"Yes, that's right." The Megu-like girl answered. Then, she pointed to herself. "I'm one of the class representatives, Eriko Fujisaki. Those three are some of my classmates- Reimiya Kuroyama-san, Hana Aoshima-san and Koujiro Tobe-san."

She pointed first to the girl with the scarf, then the other tiny girl and finished up with the boy as she said these names, indicating who was who quite neatly. Terasaka was also starting to remember other things, such as stuff Isogai had emailed around to all of them who had been in that class. He had not paid any more attention to this than he had any of the other things that Isogai sent (and no matter what anyone said, he _did_ pay attention), but now he was starting to remember.

"So?" he asked. "Whatcha all want, huh?" he wiped his brow a little. Kiyono was silent as she swung her little legs and looked at them. The fish was as unsettlingly calm as usual. _No doubt its watching them, too, for some other reason that fishes don't even need. Pah._

"We were wondering if you or Yoshida-san would be willing to help us out with our school festival." Eriko said.

"Your school festival?!" This, he was not expecting. "What are you even doing that would require me?"

"A museum." Hana stated. "A museum designed, about, relating to and supported by current 3E members-us- and former ones too. Like you, Terasaka-san. "

" _And_ …."

"Come now, Terasaka. " Maehara grinned. "You remember what we did for our school festival."

"We did a ramen stall. Muramatsu had a field day with it. So?"

"No, no, try again. What did you and Taisei do specifically?"

Terasaka gave Maehara a dirty look, but he had already been thinking about the times of 30 years ago, so it was hardly a task for him.

"….no, wait, what? Why do we both need to be one of your dogsbodies?! _Again_!"

"You were both members of 3E, though." Hana said.

"But still, you can't just come and- Maehara! Why the hell-?!"

"W-we don't necessarily mean both of you." Reimiya piped up before he could remonstrate with Maehara. She looked a little timid as she looked him in the eye- she had weird eyes, not as odd as Kiyono's (which had had Taisei and Sumire worried when she was born), but distinctive anyway- and it reminded him a little of what Manami had been like back then, near the beginning.

"I-I mean, we know you both have a business to run and all. But, if one of you c-could lend us your help, we'd be grateful!"

"Yeah, what Reimiya-Chan said!" Koujiro cheerily said, stepping forward. "I'll take up the slack of the other person. I'm pretty strong too."

"I can tell…." Terasaka muttered. He brooded for a moment. Then, he heard someone coming towards the entrance that came from the house. Taisei appeared.

"Kiyono! There you are! The others are having tea, go and join them. Your mum's been looking for you!"

"Daddy, I'm watching Terry argue with Mae and the strangers." Kiyono stated, not bothering to make a move.

"We're _not_ arguing." Terasaka huffed, aware that his protest made it sound as if they had been, which just annoyed him all the more. Taisei ignored him, and turned and registered Maehara and the four middle schoolers. He raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yo, Maehara. Didn't expect you to be here. And who are these guys?"

Eriko introduced the four of them once again, and then Maehara quickly summarised the situation. Taisei frowned and nodded, then frowned again, and then looked at Terasaka.

"I could go." He suggested.

"Ahem, what?"

"Yeah, sure, I could help them. It's just three days after all. You could run things, right? I'm sure Totsuka and Matsuda-kun could pitch in more for that. I'll call in Totsuka for those days, let him take holiday at another time to make up for it."

"Yeah, I suppose so…." Terasaka grudgingly conceded. "Aren't you worried about what Sumire' ll say?"

"Nah, she'll be fine with it once she knows what it's for." He turned to look at Kiyono, still sitting on the worktop. "Kiyono, I told you to _go_."

"Aww." Kiyono looked down at the ground, and apparently realised that she could not get down without putting the fishbowl to a side. She pouted at this, and Taisei ran a hand through his dreadlocks.

"Here, I'll help you kid. Kiyono-Chan, was it?" Koujiro took the lead, picking up Kiyono and plonking her down neatly, somehow managing to prevent the fish from flying out. He ruffled her hair, then steered her to the door leading to the house and she went off none too happily, but she went all the same.

"Aoi's offended now, Daddy." Was her parting shot just before she was completely out of earshot.

"Ah…I'm sorry about that." Taisei wearily apologised. Maehara laughed.

"It's fine, it's fine. Knows her own mind doesn't she, that one?"

"Yeah, she does. So, anyway, sure, I'll help. You'll probably want the carts, right? For reasons I don't even know, I might even still have them somewhere around. We'd probably need to rebuild them all though. Terasaka, you're definitely helping with that."

"Tch, don't just randomly sign me up for things!" _I will though, so yeah._

"Thank you!" Reimiya exclaimed. Hana beamed and Koujiro grinned as he came back to stand with them.

"This really is a big help. " Eriko said more sedately.

"Yeah, sure, no probs. Hinano's kid's in your class, right? And all this was his idea- the project, I mean." Taisei asked.

"Mhm." Eriko said.

"But Hana here came up with the specific museum idea." Maehara proclaimed proudly. This made Terasaka take a closer look at her. _A daydreamer, this one._

"Cool." Taisei nodded. "So then, I can just give you a bell to make arrangements about when to come up and stuff, right?"

"That would be best, but take my number too, just in case." Eriko handed Taisei a scrap of paper, which went into one of his many pockets. He sighed a moment, his gaze drifting over to where Kiyono had been sitting, and then fixed Maehara with a look.

"Do you think you could stay back a while? There's something I've been meaning to ask you about…relating to Kiyono actually, and that fish of hers."

"She got it during the summer festival, right? Its name's Aoi if I reca-oh. Oh, right." Maehara let out a long breath.

"Yeah. Sumire and I didn't pay much attention when she talked about how she got the fish, but since she named it 'Aoi' and keeps on mentioning it…"

"I've got to drive these kids back though." Maehara gestured to Eriko, Reimiya, Hana and Koujiro. All four of them now looked confused at the sudden turn in conversation. _I don't blame them….I don't even understand that damn squirt, spiriting himself away like that….as if one of us dead and the other locked up wasn't bad enough…..truth be told, I want to know what's going on there too. It doesn't take a freaking genius to guess who Kiyono's 'Mister Blue Person' is based on the context and blah._

"Perhaps you could drop us back at the bottom of the campus instead?" Hana tipped her head as she suggested this.

"It wouldn't be t-too much trouble for us to go from there!" Reimiya agreed. Maehara pursed his lips and regarded his charges.

"Are you sure, guys?"

"Yes." Eriko decided for all of them. Maehara nodded slowly, and then turned back to him.

"To be honest, there's not that much the three of us know in comparison, but if I come back after dropping these guys off to talk about it, will that be okay?"

"Sure." Taisei nodded gratefully. "I'll tell Sumire, she'll want you to stay for dinner."

"Ah, well, I-"

"You _know_ she'll insist."

This made both Maehara and Terasaka laugh, for they both knew this to be true.

"In which case," Maehara grinned. "I won't refuse."

 **…**

Though Tada had only been to Matsuraiken a few scattered times before, it felt incredibly comfortable entering the small restaurant with Hirigi, Haru and Akira.

"Oh! I might or might not have come here a couple of times before, with my uncle. But I was really, really little, so I don't know." Haru exclaimed.

"Same here. With my parents and sister. But I wasn't quite so little the last time I came." Tada replied wistfully. He looked around at the different patrons sitting and eating, or waiting for their orders while either looking through their phones, reading something or talking to whoever was with them. Some were sat up at the bar, but it wasn't crowded enough to prevent them from going right up to it, so they did so, Tada leading the way.

"Takuya-san!" he called. Muramatsu was currently handing a bowl of ramen to someone at the bar, but turned at his voice. His face scrunched up momentarily, small eyes studying him, but then he blinked and broke out into a smile.

"Tada! It's been a while since I last saw you in here. Of course, you were with your mum that time…..how are you holding up? You and your sister?"

Tada just shrugged awkwardly. Muramatsu smiled again, this time a little strained, and then gestured to the bar.

"Do you want anything to eat, or drink, perhaps? Itona, you're near the menus, grab them one."

"I don't _work_ for you, Muramatsu. Even if your ramen is better than your old man's." The slightly petulant voice said. It belonged to a man in a suit who, rather unusually, had a bandanna around his shocking white hair. Tada recognised him, another of his mother's friends. He had met him a handful of times, the most recent that he could recall being around five years ago when Isogai had made their 3E reunion include children and spouses, and so Itona was not one of his mother's friends that he was especially close to in the way that he was with Kou's parents (for example). _Still, I don't think the distinctions matter._

"It's okay, Itona-san." Tada cheerfully said. "I'll come over there. You guys, sit down, okay?"

"Are you not going to ask about the festival then?" Hirigi asked.

"Of course I am. But we may as well eat something, given we delayed a little in getting here."

"It's okay, Kazuma-kun, I don't mind paying for you if that's the issue." Haru warmly offered. Hirigi blushed a little.

"That's not…."

Tada laughed to himself as he went over to grab a couple of menu cards. Itona regarded him curiously with his unusually wide yellow-orange eyes, propping his chin on his hand to regard him.

"You've been pretty busy, haven't you?"

"Uhm, yeah, I guess so. Do you know about it then?"

"With the company I keep here, I can't _not_ know about it. " Itona gestured to the general area that Muramatsu occupied before he sampled the bowl of ramen in front of him.

"Still, it makes sense perfect sense for you to try and get rid of the system." He added a moment later, shrugging. "Don't know why we ourselves didn't manage to do it, the way our class was."

"Uh…."

"Your friends are waiting." Itona said apathetically, absently putting another bit of food in his mouth. Tada blinked, and then smiled at him.

"Yeah, guess you're right about that. See you later."

"Took you long enough." Hirigi said, teasing. Tada sweatdropped as he sat down and passed the menu cards down.

"Was I that long?" he asked. "I mean, seriously? It was just a short conversation!"

 _Well, if it could be called that. I wonder if he's related to Shiki-sempai….._

"He's just teasing." Akira bluntly stated. "But we've already asked about the museum."

"You did? I should have been the one to…"

"It doesn't matter, Tada-kun!" Haru interjected cheerfully. "It was just the basic request and explanation, and he said yes."

"Oh, alright then." Tada looked down at the menu card. "Well, I guess we could order something and then I'll ask him how we'll do things."

They consulted the menu for a while, and then when Muramatsu came back to the front, he made a beeline straight to them and took their orders before going to attend to someone else. Until their food arrived, Tada, Akira, Hirigi and Haru chatted a while until a young dark-blue haired woman came with their food. Tada didn't recognise her, but then she smiled a smile that was exactly the same as Muramatsu's, and he remembered.

"Oh hey, Taeko-san!"

"Yo back at you." She said. "I hear you're doing a museum thing for your festival and you asked for Dad's help. "

"Yeah, for the recipe and tips about the acorn ramen that his class did for their festival."

"Oh gosh, _the acorn ramen_." Taeko rolled her eyes conspiratorially. "He's so ridiculously proud of that. You know he has the restaurant review that Yuuji Norita did printed out and stuck on the wall in our kitchen?"

"You know Yuuji Norita?" Akira's eyes regarded Taeko and Tada with interest.

"Nah, nothing like that." Taeko shrugged. "My dad doesn't even know him properly. But apparently he knew some girl in the class and he came in pursuit of them and ended up trying the food and liking it enough to review it on his site and made the crowds come flocking."

"I see." Akira's eyes flickered and she concentrated on her food. A smile ghosted around her lips.

"Anyway, what I was going to say is that when Dad comes to talk to you about how to help, I've already told him it's fine for him to actually trek up and help you to do the actual cooking and stuff- I can handle the restaurant myself for a few days, with the other cooks and stuff. Plus, he'd enjoy it a lot, so yeah. "

"Oh, well, thanks." Tada said uncertainty. He certainly didn't want to inconvenience Muramatsu more than what could be prevented. Taeko let out a hearty chuckle, and then zipped off to collect someone else's empty bowls. The four of them continued chatting until Muramatsu came back. After a bit of back-and-forth, they negotiated that Muramatsu would give them the recipe, and come up a few days before the festival to show them where to specifically find the ingredients that they'd need. He would also come up on the first day to help them set up the cookers and make sure they knew what they were doing with everything, most likely staying the whole day just to be sure. In return, for a couple of days Haru, Hirigi and Akira would come and help in the kitchens on a voluntary basis (which, according to Muramatsu, was a win-win because then the three designated cooks would get to learn the 'way of the ramen' as well). It was an arrangement that seemed fair to Tada, and none of the others had minded at all.

Muramatsu managed to find the recipe surprisingly quickly, and handed it to Haru, whom they'd all agreed beforehand would be in charge of making (or arranging, where applicable) the food for the festival. When they finished their food, Tada called over Muramatsu to pay for the food, but to his surprise, they were turned down.

"This time around, it's on the house. For Kurahashi. And the fact you're finally doing something about 3E." Muramatsu said as he handed Tada the pile of notes. Recognising his mother's maiden name, all he could do for a moment was stare down at his hands, but then he looked up.

"I…uh…thank you." He stuttered. Muramatsu nodded, then went off to respond to a customer query-business as usual, naturally.

"Here, I'll split it back up." Akira took the money from his hands. "Then we can go."

"Ah, thank you!" Tada blinked sleepily. Though Akira had to recount a couple of times, she managed to get the right amount of money given out correctly, and once everyone was ready, and once Tada had called out a goodbye to Itona, they left.

 **…**

It was a strike of luck for Isogai when the person he was looking for was the one who answered the door of the orphanage when he came calling. Or perhaps not, for he would have managed to reach him anyway, but it was still helpful. _I have no idea what I'm even on about…._

"Suzuki-kun, hello."

Dark brown eyes stared down at him from a towering height.

"Isogai-san, it's rare to see you at this time."

"Yes, I know. I try not to disrupt mealtimes, but I'm not actually here to see any of the children. I wanted to talk to you?"

"Me?" Suzuki's eyes widened for a moment, then he remembered himself and opened the door wider. "Regardless, come in."

Isogai did so, and just as Suzuki stepped behind him to lock the door, a small gaggle of kids aged around 9 or 10 years old came clattering down the stairs, ready to leave. Suzuki turned and looked at them.

"Ah, are you going now?" he asked them kindly once they were all downstairs, reopening the door wide. One of them, a sweet looking green eyed boy, nodded, but it was a little girl with plum coloured hair in a high ponytail who answered him.

"Yes, we are, Suzuki-san. Suzume-Chan fell asleep. And we need to go home anyway."

"That sounds about right. If Suzume's better tomorrow she'll be coming into school, otherwise you're welcome to visit again after school."

"Thank you!" one of the other boys said. "See you later!"

The children all greeted Isogai despite clearly having no idea who he was, and Isogai beamed happily at them and greeted them in return as they clattered their way out. Suzuki stood on the doorstep and waved as they disappeared, then once they had gone finally shut the door and latched it. Isogai watched the calm and easy manner Suzuki had, and found himself reflecting on the past. _I'm proud of how he's managed to make something good out of his life. It's somehow hard to believe how much he has changed._

"I cooked all the meals today, so Murakami's keeping an eye on them over dinner and Kogami is currently putting the babes to sleep." Suzuki explained, referring to the under-sevens currently inhabiting the orphanage. "And Kitamura and Sakakibara are milling around with other things, but I'll be dealing with the rest of the bedtimes, but until then I'm free so perhaps we could just go to the front office and talk."

Isogai nodded.

"Sure. But I think I'd like to go up and see Suzume-Chan. Is she ill?" he definitely hadn't planned or scheduled to see any child in this particular orphanage today, but given the circumstances just a quick check in would probably be appropriate, he thought.

"It's just a cold, but bad enough that we decided it was best to keep her back home today. Those were some of her classmates who just left. They came to see how she was, which was nice. I think it cheered her up a lot. "

"That is nice. Yeah, I'll just pop up a moment." He knew that the other kids had said she was asleep, but she was one of his cases, so he wanted to check. Suzuki knew this, for he nodded calmly.

"Well then, you know where the front office is, so meet me there afterwards."

Isogai nodded, then took to the stairs and went up to where he knew Suzume's room was, grinning at the colourful sign she'd pasted to the front of the door. She had made it a couple of years ago, when he had first been assigned to her, and it was still as bright and as pretty as before. The door itself was partially open, so he carefully poked his head around it and regarded Suzume, who was indeed fast asleep, limbs flung out carelessly under the quilt- _exactly like Hoshiko used to_ -toys strategically arranged around her pillow, one fat teddy bear tucked under her arm. Her thick pale pink hair was fanned out underneath her, and though in the dim light of the evening he could just make out her flushed cheeks, there was a peaceful expression on her face. So, satisfied that the child was okay, he withdrew and headed down to Suzuki.

Suzuki was sitting down in front of the computer on one desk, dealing with some admin or other. Sakakibara, one of the other orphanage workers, was doing something similar at the other, no doubt taking advantage of it being dinner time to do so. When she noticed Isogai, Sakakibara smiled at him before returning straight to what she was doing. Isogai grabbed a spare chair and pulled it up to the desk Suzuki was sitting at. It took Suzuki a few moments, but once he had finished typing a sentenced, he wiped his brow and turned to look at Isogai.

"So, you wanted to ask me about something." Suzuki said. "What is it? Are you thinking of taking on another set of children from here? Don't you have enough to open your own orphanage yourself?"

Isogai laughed and shook his head.

"Our home's only a little like that because Mari and I decided to take in sibling groups. But actually, I wanted to ask you for some help regarding this year's 3E?"

"Huh?" Suzuki's look was blank for a moment, then was incredulous. "You're still doing that? It's been like….20 years? Yeah, 20 years since I was in that school and that dumping yard of a class. That's crazy. Are you really _still_ secretly mentoring 3E students?"

"Yup." Isogai nodded. "Still doing what I can, with Hiroto and Megu too."

"And….you need my help? Why?" Suzuki asked. _It's a fair question._

"Well, not me as such, but my class. It's a long shot, but have you heard of anything called 'Ending the End Class'?"

Suzuki frowned again, at the English this time, and began to shake his head when he paused and tipped his head to the side.

"I think….Masaaki came by a few months back-came to visit Yuuri and Sachi. Had a reading week or something from university…I think he mentioned something about it, said he thought it would interest me because he knew I'd been to Kunugigaoka, but I haven't really looked at it. I don't think it could be real though, because well, why would that be allowed? It's probably just a prank. Dunno why Masaaki thought it'd be worth seeing."

Suzuki huffed, a hint of his old belligerence evident in the gesture, but then he caught Isogai's surprised gaze and contemplated him seriously, if he was a bit baffled.

"What? What's wrong, Isogai-san?"

"Of all the responses I'd thought I get I didn't think that would be one of them…." Isogai laughed awkwardly. Part of him wondered what Tada and the others would make of such a reaction, if they had been the ones to approach Suzuki first. _They'd be pretty upset, huh?_

"I don't get it…Oh shi-yikes!" Suzuki self-censored at the last moment. "Is it real, then? Not a main campus prank? The 3E of this year are actually trying to end the school system?"

"Yes, they really are. And it was all their idea too."

"Well then. Still, that doesn't explain why they'd need me."

"Well, not you specifically, Suzuki-kun. Well, both you specifically _and_ not specifically. Here, let me show you something that'll make it a bit clearer."

Isogai took out one of the handout leaflets that asked for former 3E members to apply to the museum they were holding, and then handed it to Suzuki, once again admiring the design of it as he did so. _It's the past meeting the present and working together, and it is so very, very beautiful._

Suzuki took the leaflet, smoothing it out on the table and studying it. As he did so, he ran his hand through his black hair many times, not improving the state of it at all. Eventually, after continual frowns and a little umming and aahing, he looked up.

"Does Yari know about this?"

It was a question both expected and unexpected, and Isogai was floored a moment. Immediately, he thought of Yari Fukui as she had been 20 years ago, frail, newly orphaned, barely out of hospital and sent to 3E essentially because of what she had been through. There was a silence, a long, long one, and Isogai knew that Suzuki thought of the same thing, for Yari and her little sister Nagi had entered the same orphanage they now sat in, the same one Suzuki had lived in for most of his childhood at that time, and because she had become his classmate too, he had started to look over her and Nagi, but mostly Yari. And Isogai strongly suspected that so much of Suzuki's eventual calming down as the year had gradually ended had eventually being because of him always worrying about Yari's welfare. Not that he'd ever admit the extent to which this was.

"I haven't asked her about it, nor do I think she's reached out to the current 3E herself yet. But, I did give Ema a heads up about this, and then she went and contacted 3E herself, so I'd imagine that Yari would know about it soon enough."

"Yeah. Yeah. That's good." Suzuki nodded. "I'll probably give her a call at some point soon. I haven't done so directly for a while. Mostly it's just Uchida who becomes our go-between. Fair enough on Yari's side, but….."

Suzuki let out a huge sigh, and then shrugged.

"So, anyway. This. I guess since this pertains to me having once been in 3E, I'll need to gather things relating to that."

"Just a photo of you then, and one now. If you have any?"

"Well, I might…." Suzuki shrugged again. "And they'll want to know about what I do here and how I ended up deciding to work here, I'm assuming. Are they trying to make me out to be a hero?"

"They're trying to prove that 3E is not the 'End' as it were. So by that logic, yes."

"Well then. Tell your current 3E kids I'll join them. But I don't know if and when I'll be able to come see them in person, let alone find the things they'll probably want to put up in the museum. And tell them about Yari."

"I will." Isogai stifled a chuckle at Suzuki's insistence. "Actually, one of your other classmates from that time has joined the 3E museum, as it were. Remember Oshiro-kun?"

"Uh…I guess?"

Isogai didn't press it.

"Well, I'll probably come back around another time with one of the 3E students, try to catch you at a better time, so that they can do some sort of interview. Or once I've told them about you, you can just email. Either way, if it makes things better for you, once you've gathered suitable photos, I'll collect them when I come to visit one of the children I'm overseeing."

Isogai stood up, and Suzuki did too. As they shook hands, they could hear the children come out of the dining room and start to stream up the stairs. There was the usual chattering, giggling and the sounds of a couple of spats, at which Suzuki sighed.

"I'd better go and see what's happening there." Suzuki said. "I doubt I'll get up there, but I'll make sure I do my bit for this."

"That's brilliant. I'll let myself out. "

"Ah, no, it's alright, I'll let you out, Isogai-san." Sakakibara unexpectedly piped up, standing and crossing the room. Both men nodded at her, and they left the office, Suzuki heading straight to solve the dispute between two 11 year old boys and Sakakibara and Isogai going to the door.

"Isogai-san?"

Just as Sakakibara unlocked the door, Suzuki's voice halted them. Isogai turned to watch him as he looked up from in the middle of gently but firmly restraining a young boy while a little girl tugged anxiously at his sleeve. Other children streamed around them, but Suzuki held Isogai's eyes for a moment before saying what he wanted to say.

"Thank you. For giving me a chance."

* * *

 **Supplementary OCs introduced this chapter:**

 **Sonosuke Suzuki (Belongs to: 3-E Student)**

 **I had a feeling that some of you would appreciate some cameos of Terasaka, Yoshida, Muramatsu and Itona =D. I had a lot of fun with Terasaka's in particular (can you tell, lol?) but Itona was pretty interesting to write too...though, he's kind of a difficult character to get a bead on in the first place, and this is a thirty-years-later version, so...still, I like him a lot anyway, partially because in the anime he is voiced by Megumi Ogata, and she is a great voice actor. Speaking of which, as a matter of curiosity, if you were to give any of the characters in this story a voice actor, who would you cast as which characters? I have been thinking of this lately, and what I've come up with so far is this:**

 **-Hana: Sora Amamiya (or if the utaite F9 voice acted, then her)  
-Tada: Ryouta Ohsaka (though for some reason I imagine his singing voice to be like the utaite Soraru)  
-Tsukuda: Saori Hayami  
-Hiro: Yuka Otsubo(she was Mahiru/Shinya Banba in Akuma no Riddle and Tami in Hanamataya)  
-Yamada: Hiromi Igarashi  
-Eriko: Chika Anzai  
-Akira: Emiri Kato (she was Hajime in Hamatora)  
-Kou: Nobuhiko Okamoto (obviously)  
-Kuroba: Kaito Ishikawa (he was Tsumugu in Nagi no Asukara)  
-Ruko: Maaya Uchida (again, obviously, lol)  
-Asami: Mikako Komatsu  
-Hasegawa: Hiroshi Kamiya  
-Yukiyama: Yuki Kaji  
-Jori: Eri Kitamura  
-Ayako: Sarah Emi Bridcutt (she was Chika in HaruChika)  
-Tomoki: Chinatsu Akasaka (she was Airi in ERASED)  
-Kinomoto: Soma Saito( he was Haruta in HaruChika)  
-Reimiya: Yui Horie**

 **Admittedly, that isn't much, given the size of the cast and all, but yeah. What do you all think of that? It's really just silly and random musing on my part, but it'd be interesting to hear what you all think regarding voice actors. Of course, feel free to recast those already in the original assassination classroom, as I've done that myself anyway.**

 **But anyway, before this author's note becomes stupidly colossal, I'll just say that, as usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please do leave feedback! And see you next time! :)**


	51. Welcome to the Museum, part 4

**Exams are finished, and now there is FREEDOM! Well, unless it turns out I need to resit some of the exams when the results come out next month. But still, anyway, I am pleased to say that because of the newfound freedom, I am aiming to update this story twice a week from now. Whether this will be two separate updates during each week or two chapters on the usual update day (Sunday) will probably change from week to week, and assuming no resits, I'll only be keeping such an update rate up until mind/late September, but that is what I am aiming to do. So, yeah. There's something for you all to look forward to =D**

 **But anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

"Isogai-sensei?"

"Oh, Jun-kun, Yuki-san!" Ikuko said in surprise, drawing to a halt when the Miyamoto twins appeared. She noted that there weren't that many other students around, and checked her watch.

"You're early, is something wrong?"

Jun looked at Yuki, and Yuki stared back at Jun meaningfully before pulling at a sheet of paper that was half sticking out of her pocket, and handed it to her solemnly.

"This is related to what you're teaching us in social studies, right?" she asked.

Ikuko looked at it, realising that it was one of the hand-out posters relating to Tada's 3E Class's school festival feature- a museum. So, she nodded.

"Yeah, it is. They're looking for former 3E members to get into contact with them, so they can create this museum about 3E. "She noted the serious looks on her students' faces. "Let's walk up to the classroom together."

She began to head to the staircase and Jun and Yuki followed her closely, soon falling into step with her.

"So, what are you two thinking about, in relation to this? Has something worried you?"

Again, the twins looked at each other first before answering. Ikuko was struck for the millionth time by how similar the twins were, despite being fraternal rather than identical. She thought of the other sets of twins she happened to know and couldn't come up with a single instance of such similarities, not even between Tada and Hiro, who were very close. _And that maths paper….I still cannot understand that maths paper._ But it was irrelevant, so she shook it away and patiently waited for the answer. Eventually, Jun was the one to answer.

"Is….do you think it's a good thing, Isogai-sensei? The museum, I mean?" He pointed to the leaflet that was still in his sister's grip. "That leaflet suggests yes…but it's just the leaflet."

Ikuko was about to say yes, when she stopped. She was aware that she was automatically biased, because of her parents. Before she was old enough to start school, her father had used to take her out to different cafes and parks, with Maehara, and sometimes Megu with Sora when it was around spring time or the holidays. During all of these instances, they had gone to meet some students, so much older than her, in school uniform, always the same uniform. Most of the time, the students didn't pay attention to her, and she had been too bowled over by the presence of big kids to want to stare at them too long, so she usually just played quietly, either by herself or with Sora, depending on the time of year. But sometimes, she had watched them, and though she hadn't been old enough to fully understand what they talked about, she recognised when people were upset, and she definitely knew what her father reaching out to someone in need looked like. It was only much, much later that she understood what the Kunugigaoka was, what the 3E system was and what it meant in relation to these outings.

"I believe it is good. They're trying to change opinions that should have been abolished a long time ago. And for all the right reasons. Something is wrong, and they're trying to make it better."

 _And, struggling against that long established system was what made the people who made me want to become a teacher._ Admittedly, part of her had been influenced by watching her mother patiently help various foster children with their homework at the kitchen table over the years, but when she had started thinking about careers for the first time, it had been those long-ago outings with her father that she had brought to mind first as she had decided on her path. That, and _him_. He had been a teacher too, an elementary school teacher, before he had left. The adults in her life had tried to make her forget, and it had worked, to an extent. The effect had been better with her little sisters, and with Arisa and Youko and the others who were younger. But she had been 10 years old when everything had happened and he had disappeared. She had idolised him-she admired the sound of his voice, she had enjoyed seeing him and his girlfriend whenever he came to visit her father, he had taught her and her sisters how to make all sorts of creatures out of snow and she had been utterly convinced that if a wedding was around the corner, he'd pick her to be the bridesmaid. So she had devoured the newspapers as much as she could have, in secret, until even those dried up. She had tried to eavesdrop as best as she could, but to no avail. And then years had gone by and he hadn't come back (and she certainly didn't count a night of secret protection as 'coming back'), and slowly, some of it had been forgotten. With no refresher or reference point for the information she'd stolen back then, it began to fade away. But she remembered his voice, his happiness, and the fact that he had been a teacher once. _And now, I am one too._

"So, anyway, "she said before she became too absorbed in herself. "What's the issue? I can tell there's something really eating at your mind about all this."

"…Onii-Chan was in that class before." They informed her in unison.

" _Hajime-kun_ was?!" Ikuko cleared her throat. "Sorry, I didn't know that. I didn't even know that he had attended Kunugigaoka."

She brought to mind the cheery boy she often saw in the park, surrounded by children. She had actually started talking to him a few times, because of Jun and Yuki being in her class. Spotting another future teacher in his dedication, she'd even suggested as such to him once, and with his usual charm, he had thanked her profusely and promised to think of it. Of course, he probably meant it genuinely, but either way, whether he actually decided to continue on that way was another issue completely. _Still, he is a good kid._

"So…?" Ikuko's brain started to work. "You want to know if I think he should apply?"

The twins nodded furiously at this. They reached their classroom and stopped outside of the door. Ikuko studied them.

"They'd be happy to talk to him, that class. I know it. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of them knew him already."

"Yeah, Onii-Chan is like that. Makes friends with everyone." Yuki agreed.

"But 3E made him sad, really sad." Jun said. "And when he left, he said he wanted to move on from it, to pretend it never happened."

"Ah….." _Pretending that things never happened doesn't work!_ Once again, as she didn't want to make this about her, she tamped it down, and thought it through.

"Well…does he know about the 3E Museum?"

The twins shook their head vigorously. Yuki's hair flew around her face and settled messily over her forehead, necessitating her having to push it back.

"I guess all I can say is you should just tell him about it, and then let him decide. No need to ask him to join or anything. But that being said, I think he should definitely go for it. It would be a much better way of moving on. Does that help?"

Jun looked at Yuki, and Yuki at Jun, before they both turned to her again.

"Yeah!" they both said.

"Thanks, Isogai-sensei!" Jun added. Both of them looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders, and Ikuko could not help but laugh.

"Not a problem!"

She opened the classroom door and went to her desk to set up for the day, while the twins went to their own desks and started murmuring about something she couldn't discern. Gradually, other students came in, and she watched them carefully as she waited for the beginning of the day, looking out to make sure there were no visible signs of distress or upset in them. She flicked through her lesson plans as she did so, and her thoughts drifted to other things, such as one particular online chat that was on her mind more than it probably should have been. _What do I do to help someone who could be on the other side of the country for all I know?_ She wasn't sure there was anything could do, but if her typed, time-killing words could make a difference, then she would keep trying. As someone who had once been a little girl watching her father make differences to a life, who had once idolised someone she could no longer remember properly, as the teacher that she was, she had to try.

"Sensei? Do you have a minute before class?"

Ikuko looked up to meet the eyes of the student who had stopped by her desk, and smiled, putting aside both the lesson plans she was flicking through and her worries.

"Of course I do. What's the matter?"

 **…**

Hana came out with Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko to wave off Aoko Aoyama, the kindergarten teacher who had come during a quick break to see them about their museum, having been a member of 3E ten years prior.

"Thanks for coming!" Tada called out to her as all four of them waved to her. The somewhat short woman smiled at them, her pale green eyes crinkling.

"Not a problem, thanks for having me!" she cheerfully replied before spinning back around, the dark brown hair fluttered around her shoulders before settling again as if nothing had happened, as if it had not been captured in pigtails a decade before. Aoyama continued down the path, rushing a bit as she had a kindergarten class to get back to, but the arrival of someone else halted her. Hana spotted the dark purple hair and the camera, and immediately recognised Katou. And surprisingly, Aoyama did too, for she paused long enough to grin and yell a greeting before continuing on, soon disappearing.

"Hello, Katou-san!"

"Ah." Katou blinked and regarded her for a moment. "Hello, Aoyama-san."

She seemed to be confused, and as she got closer to them and spotted Hana with the others on the step, this only increased, her frown deepening as she studied all of them.

"She came to see _you_?"

"Yeah." Tsukuda said. "Why'd you want to know?"

"No particular reason. It just surprised me, that's all. "

"Hey, you were in 3E too, right, Katou-sempai?" Tada asked unexpectedly. Hana just blinked at him until she remembered that this was true.

"I believed I mentioned it once." Katou confirmed. "Aoyama-san was too, actually. But she is younger than me, so we weren't classmates or anything...though that's a touch irrelevant."

"I don't think it's irrelevant." Eriko disagreed. She tilted her head, considering Katou, who returned the stare solidly. Neither stoic was put out by this, however, it was Eriko who eventually gave in as it were, and spoke again.

"Perhaps then, you'd be interested in joining our museum."

"Join a museum? What does that even mean?"

"It's a museum about 3E, about 3E students, exhibiting them and their successes as they were. " Hana explained enthusiastically. "It's for our school festival attraction. So we've been looking for former 3E students who might be interested in joining this. Aoyama-san was one of them."

"And….you think I'm a good candidate for this? Is this related to your little thing you have going on? The 'Ending the End Class'?" One of Katou's eyebrows arched pointedly, and Hana felt like shrinking under that gaze. _It's so disapproving, but why disapprove?_

"It is related." Tada answered for her.

"Then in which case, I refuse."

"What?!" Tsukuda exploded. "Why would you refuse just like that?! That's just…I mean….."

"Hanae." Tada shook his head at her, and then turned to Katou. "Could we try and change your mind? Or at the very least, would you be able to tell us why you don't want to be part of the museum?"

Katou took a moment to respond, and the silence stretched. In that time, a few of the others drifted out to join them, the rest continuing to peer out of the opened classroom windows. _It's almost like she doesn't care….._

"That's quite simple, really. I don't agree with what you're trying to do."

"On what basis?" Kuroba spoke up, stepping forward slightly.

"Well, it hardly makes sense to have a class that's so full of mixed abilities, does it? It's better to have the lower abilities together in one class and leave the rest together. At least, that's what I think."

"I disagree-"Kuroba started crisply, before being cut off by a now-fuming Tsukuda, who confronted Katou directly.

"Well, you're _wrong_! I'm sorry, but if you think that that's all 3E is about then you must have been _sleepwalking_ through your time here! How do you explain the bullying and active discrimination that 3E students go through? How everyone is allowed to get away with it because of the fact that we are in '3E'? And the fact that we're all the way over here, isolated from everyone else? That our safety is significantly less important? If it was just about separating the abilities, then we would just be a different class. Not '3E' or 'the End Class'!"

"Hmm…certainly, the bullying isn't acceptable…."

Katou, who had just been about to leave them and head to the forest, stopped and considered them again. Her eyes swept over all of them carefully, seeming to miss nothing, though what she thought of it all was hard to discern. She seemed particularly interested in Tsukuda, who trembled as she glared daggers, eyes shiny. Not even having Tada near her seemed to be able to still her, but she didn't say or do anything else, either, and just conveyed her feelings with her very form. Hana wanted to go over and give her classmate a big hug, but she found herself oddly paralysed by this confrontation.

"But, it's hardly such a big deal, is it?" Katou concluded eventually. "After all, you're only here for a year. Once it's over, you can just go on to high school and other things, and just forget it. I'm sure that's what everyone else who had been in your shoes before you did. Certainly, I've forgotten about it, as being here wasn't that important to me. It's just you making a big deal out of something that really isn't one, and so I don't agree with you."

Having said this, she planted one hand on her hip and waited to see if any of them had anything to counter what she said.

"I don't think that's _quite_ right…" Tada spoke up and treaded carefully as he tried to diffuse some of the tension that had built up, holding his hands out conciliatorily as he did so.

"3E isn't some sort of trivial blip, rather, it's something that outstayed its welcome for a long, long time. But, if you really think like you do, then-"

"For someone who didn't care about their experiences here, you sure seem to come back a lot, Katou-san." Izzy interrupted teasingly, almost singing the last part of the sentence. Since Hana hadn't even noticed him come out with Kuroba and those who had come out, she jumped a little. It would have been funny if it wasn't for the fact that all she could think of was a closed door, and the one behind that door.

 _If everyone is just able to shake this year off and forget it, then explain to me why Onii-san is trapped in it. Explain that to me, because I would really like to know._

But of course, she could hardly say that. She could not offer Kei up to Katou, how could she? She didn't want her brother ripped to pieces, to be more responsible for his falling apart than she already was. So she didn't say that.

"I'm a nature photographer. This is an area that's a rich source of various aspects of nature. The fact I once attended this school has nothing to do with that."

"Are you _suuure_ about that?" Izzy drawled, uncaring. Katou clicked her tongue and glared at them.

"Why am I even wasting good photography time on y-"

"If nothing about this matters, then what about Isogai-san, Kataoka-san and Maehara-san? Don't you remember them? _Don't they matter_?"

As soon as the words ripped themselves from Hana, she put her hands to her mouth and gasped. She hadn't meant to say that any more than she planned on using Kei as a point to challenge Katou's beliefs with, and she certainly hadn't meant to be so loud. Though she could not look at them, she felt everyone's attention focus on her. Just like it had done when she had thought of the museum. But this time, she didn't want it. Katou's irritation seemed to fall away because of it though, the edges of her seeming to soften somehow. Kuroba and Izzy came over to stand either side of her, and then they waited.

"Well, I wasn't particularly troubled by being in 3E, so it wasn't as if I needed them….but it did seem like some people did. And…well, I can't deny that they were good people back then. I'd imagine they're much the same now, right?" Katou didn't wait for an answer. "So fine, I'll join your museum. But make my involvement as minimal as possible, please. I still don't agree with Ending the End Class."

Tsukuda's trembling eased a little, and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. Izzy poked Hana playfully, and then grinned and winked at her when she turned to him. She beamed easily, though she still felt a little fuzzy inside.

"Ah, if you're sure about that, then thank you!" Tada effused. "All we need from you is a photograph of you now, one of you from when you were in 3E, and perhaps some of the photographs you've taken over the years? Or perhaps even copies of the magazines that they appeared in?"

"Oh, wonderful, now I have to dig back through nineteen years' worth of stuff…ah, whatever. I'll try and get it to you. Now, if you don't mind, I want to actually get to what I originally came here for- which would be _photography_."

Katou glared at Izzy before briefly scanning the class and resting her eyes on Hana once again. Her mouth quirked up slightly, and though Hana was if not sure if it had been a smile or not, she smiled back anyway, and stood with the others to watch her disappear into the forest.

"Well, that was interestingly random." Izzy said, eventually.

"And _you_ are _awful_." Eriko informed him stoutly. Izzy seemed not to care, just giving his usual wolfish grin before going back inside, followed by the others.

"That was pretty cool of you, managing to get her to agree." A calmer Tsukuda told her, falling into step with her. Hana blinked at her in confusion. _I didn't do anything._ On an impulse, she stopped and reached out to hug Tsukuda, holding on as tightly as possible.

"Hana?!" Tsukuda sputtered.

"Do you feel better now?" Hana asked simply when she let go. Tsukuda blinked, and then laughed suddenly.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks, Hana."

The rest of the lunchtime was fairly insignificant, all of them breaking into their small groups, just chatting and eating until it was over. The final lessons of the day were also fairly ordinary, and then when the day ended, though some of them headed straight home, a good few of them dallied, to discuss the museum a little, and Hana was amongst them. They were starting to think about the layout of the museum, particularly the portions that would be in their main classroom (they were planning to utilise all the space they had in their campus). To facilitate this, they got Ichijou's permission to move some of their desks out of the classroom in preparation for when they did actually start physically creating the museum. After some negotiation amongst those who had decided to stay, for the moment they decided that Izzy and Kuroba would move their desks together and have Hana share with them so that her desk would be moved, then Ayako and Ruko would share a desk while Tada and Tsukuda would do the same as well. Eriko suggested doing the same for her and Kaori, but as the latter had gone straight home, they had decided not to do that just yet. In the end that only got rid of three desks, but as it was early days Hana reckoned it was a step in the right direction, and the others all agreed.

After some more time chatting and debating over what they eventually started referring to as the 'blueprints' despite them having been dark grey pencil sketches with red pen annotations on white paper, they decided to call it a day, and after helping with what would have been cleaning duty, were just about to leave when someone called out to them.

"Hello! Is anyone still there?!"

Hana thought she recognised the young female voice, and frowned. And while she pondered this, Tada called out in reply.

"Yes, some of us are here. Are you here to ask about the 3E Museum?"

"Ah, yes, I am!" a second later, a girl who looked to be about 17 or 18 appeared. Dressed in her green high school uniform and with her bag slung over her shoulder, she appeared to be slightly out of breath.

"Phew, I'm glad I managed to get you now. I literally ran here from school hoping to get here quickly. It brings back memories…." The girl pushed away locks of her pale blond hair, and scanned them all with her deep brown eyes. Now Hana was even surer that she recognised this girl, her somewhat Nordic facial features ringing a bell, but she could not place it.

"Oh! Mayu-Chan!" almost immediately, not one but three more people came up the hill and stopped behind the girl- Mayu. The one who had called out was immediately recognisable as Tomoki, and she glomped Mayu almost instantly, much to her surprise.

"T-Tomoki-san!" Mayu gasped and laughed, squirming away. "It's been a while! How are you? And are you here for the museum too?"

In response, Tomoki pulled the leaflet out of her navy blue school jumper pocket and waved it at her.

"Yup, I am here for that! And so's Shiki-Chan! You remember each other, right?" At this, Tomoki pulled at the hand of the white haired girl next to her, who startled as she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and turned to regard Mayu.

"Sure I do." Mayu said.

"I…suppose I do." Shiki simply said, regarding Mayu, who laughed awkwardly.

"I didn't expect to be joining a little class reunion." The fourth person, a boy who seemed a similar age to the three girls, laughed. "I almost feel a little left out."

This boy, with his brown hair and eyes and athletic appearance was also someone Hana recognised. But this time, she knew why. And so did most of the others.

"Hajime-kun, I didn't know you'd been like us once." Tada said, surprised. Hajime rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, then shrugged.

"Well…it was two years ago now….I was just trying to move on and forget I'd ever been here…and then I heard about this and I guess I changed my mind. Cool little thing you've got going on here."

"Thanks." Tada said. "Anyway, Shiki-sempai, thanks for actually coming here. And Tomoki-san too."

"I said I'd find you, didn't I?" she shrugged. "I've not got much though. "

"Ahh, I'm sure they'll be fine with what you do have, Shiki-Chan!" Tomoki said cheerfully as she watched and sketched her. Hana was aware of Tomoki's spontaneous sketching habits from visiting All Is Possible, but… _when did she take that out?_ The others seemed a little non-plussed too, and they all just stood around awkwardly staring at Tomoki busily sketching Shiki.

"Uh…Tomoki-san. Why…?" Mayu broke the silence. Tomoki looked up and blinked, then giggled as she put away the sketchbook.

"Ah, sorry! It's just, now I know what Shiki-Chan's eyes look like and I just really wanted to capture that…Oh, but that reminds me! I brought along some of my old sketchbooks for you guys to use for the museum. Since I'm aiming for art school and all, I figured that would make sense."

"Yes, that helps." Eriko nodded. "How about we go inside then, and talk to you all at once. Tada-san, Tsukuda-san, Hana-san, Yukimura-san?"

"Yes, "Fuyumi agreed. "That sounds like a plan."

"Ah, I must be the only one of us whom you don't already know!" Mayu exclaimed as they went back in the classroom and sat down at various desks. "I'm Mayu Hashimoto, and like Tomoki-san and Yoshitsune-san, I was a member of Kunugigaoka's class 3E three years ago."

 _Kei-Chan._

"Hana-Chan, what's wrong?"

 _Oh, I said that out loud, didn't I?_

"Wasn't there someone whose name was Kei in our class?" Tomoki wondered.

"I have no idea. " Shiki baldly stated. Mayu, on the other hand, seemed to know, and Hana stared at her beseechingly, searingly.

"Yeah, Kei Aoshima. He was a bit like you, actually, Yoshitsune-san, kinda lonerish. Though….if you don't mind me saying, he was warmer. At least, that's the impression I got…but where are my manners? You know him, don't you? You wouldn't look like someone had exsanguinated you otherwise. "

" _Exsanguinated_?!" Hajime spluttered. Unusually, he was ignored.

"My brother…" Hana managed to say. This made Tomoki slap her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my gosh. I should have realised. I was trying to chat with him once during that year, trying to pester him about his family. He mentioned that he had two sisters….oh my gosh. I'm sorry for not realising. Which one are you?"

"Hana. And…it's…okay?" Hana shrugged, adrift. Mayu regarded her curiously.

"So, though I don't want to take up too much time on this when it's not really the point…how is Aoshima-kun? I mean, I talk to him sometimes online but…yeah, that's online."

"Uh…." _What can I say to that? How can I answer that?_

"Ah, so he did become a hikkikomori, then?"

Everyone gawped at Shiki.

"That's….kinda rude, Shiki-Chan?" Tomoki eventually said.

"That was a bit uncalled for…" Tada ventured. Shiki just stared them down, an oddly terrifying look since only one of her eyes was visible.

"It takes one to know one."

The statement was delivered blandly, but the way Shiki tilted her head at Hana afterwards suggested something resembling understanding, and she didn't know what to think about it. _Onii-san, Kei-Chan…what were you like with these three? What did you think of them?_

"Well, either way, tell us hi from us, won't you?" Mayu proclaimed. "Anyway, sorry about that, you all. I didn't mean to just make it all about our class only. Maybe we should get on with things. "

 _Tell him? How can I do that? How will that be possible? Oh, I want it to be…._

"Ah, yes, I think that'll be a good idea."

And so, they got on with the interviews. Shiki revealed she was aiming to study computer science in university, and that her current part-time work was related to computers too, though she refused to say more than that. Mayu, who turned out to be half-Swedish, had spent her first year of high school in Sweden, and was hoping to go back some day. But in the meantime, she was hoping to study psychology, perhaps even become a researcher in the field. Aimi handed over her drawings and showed them off, and explained how much of an impact Isogai and the others had had on her, giving her more encouragement and hope for the future than the main campus ever had. Hajime also expressed gratitude for Isogai being around, but talked more about his family being supportive and how he hoped to pay them back for it all, and he just generally charmed them all as he chatted with them.

They also all had the photos that had been asked of them, even if, in the case of Shiki, the one she had brought in for herself as a 3E student was just the graduation one (which Hana pored over excessively, for she had never seen Kei's graduation photograph. He'd barely managed to get through his own graduation ceremony in the first place). This prompted more reminiscing from the three girls from the 3E of three years ago (though Shiki did not contribute much to this as much as Tomoki and Mayu did), and at times, it was hard to follow. But they mentioned Kei from time to time, and so Hana didn't mind too much. In any case, there was a lot they were still able to use for the museum, which was perfectly fine.

When they had finished, they all decided to walk down together.

"But I'm going to the hospital first." Shiki objected. "And then I've got to get the train."

"Well, we can at least walk down the hill, and I go past the hospital, so I may as well walk with you." Mayu argued.

"Hmm, perhaps we should visit Class Rep with you, Shiki-Chan. I feel kind of mean…." Tomoki mused.

"….no, I'm fine alone."

"Well, if you say so…." Tomoki said doubtfully. Then, she cheerfully changed the subject and linked arms with both girls, and they all went ahead. Mayu remembered to turn back and bid them goodbye, and Tada thanked them for coming before turning to Tsukuda and starting to talk about them. Hajime, still walking with them, went to join Hana.

"Are you sure you're all right after all that, kid? If what Yoshitsune-sempai said about your brother…?"

"I….I don't know. But I think its fine." Hana answered as honestly as she could. "At least, it _will_ be fine. Or, perhaps it's just that I _want_ it to be."

Hajime tilted his head, and considered that. His usual smiles and charms were replaced by a moment of introspection.

"Yeah…yeah, I guess that's the sum of it. Let's just hope that all of what we want from this comes true then."

 **…**

After helping to wash up the plates and bidding his father goodnight, Tsuwabuki went up to his bedroom and sorted out his things for the next day of school. His actual schoolbag did not take very long-he was fairly sure he'd be able to do it sleepwalking- and so he spent more time over the more important thing that he would need to take with him- his collection of things that he'd found in their school campus forest. One of the features that they were including in the museum was essentially going to be a lost property collection that people could collect their little trinkets from, and he was the one being put in charge of it. So he needed to make sure to bring everything with him, and make sure it was in as good a condition as he could possibly make it. They would be deciding how to organise the museum properly from the next day onwards, and would actually be starting to physically put things up and plan their schedule and budget. Various other tasks had been delegated to other members, but this one was his. _So I will do it as best as I can._

Sitting at the desk and carefully cleaning and/or fixing the different items before carefully fitting them in the various different boxes and containers he had found, he found himself wondering at the teenagers who would have owned these things once, and who they may have become. But unlike before, he now had different faces and names to speculate about and match to different objects. Perhaps the mysteriously still-working pink earphones that had heart shaped decorations all over them had belonged to either the curly haired fairground ride operator Shinju Hisakawa or her 11-months-older dyslexic sister Kohaku (now a travel agent) who had been in 3E 25 years ago. It was entirely possible that the three red and blue skull-and-crossbone printed buttons had fallen off a jacket once worn by the mismatch-eyed Junko Moto- who had been a rebellious 15 year old and who had straightened out in the 18 years since to become aide for deaf children in an elementary school, being the resourceful single mother of a profoundly deaf 11 year old herself.  
Kenshin Kawaguchi, a heart surgeon who had spent his childhood and most of adolescence missing school due to a heart condition of his own (thus landing him in 3E 34 years ago), could have easily been the owner of the silicon phone case that would have made the phone in it look as if it was made of ice. The half-Malaysian interpreter Shigeo Wakahisa-who currently lived and worked in Canary Wharf, London- may had accidentally dropped his hand-made wallet that had an elephant so intricately stitched onto it when he had haunted these forest 24 years ago.  
Kasumi Hoshino's necklace, fashioned from old foreign currency, may have broken and slithered off her neck without her realising the year before as she went to retrieve a ball she had accidentally batted too far as she slavishly practised her beloved baseball, even as-like her hero Tomohito Sugino had been 30 years ago- she hadn't been able to be part of a school team until she'd moved onto high school. Kasumi's brother Taiki, a newlywed police officer-who had also been a 3E student 8 years prior after standing up to bullying-could easily have been the former owner of the ruler that looked as if it was made of jigsaw puzzle pieces.

There were more besides these, so many different sorts of people who had made brilliant (or at least more than decent) lives for themselves despite having been dumped in the horribly named 'End Class', and he found it entertaining to imagine what they might have lost in the forest during their time there, based on all the things that they had told and revealed and given as part of them volunteering to be part of their museum. For him, speculating over this was almost as interesting and exciting as dinosaurs were, and the idea that some of these people would get to retrieve the things which were once precious to them excited him even further. _It's going to be so interesting to see what happens with all this._ Naturally, he would need to make sure that if the items did end up being claimed that they were going to the right people, but given how long ago some of their 3E years were, he would not be too harsh. But even so, he wanted to do this right, so as he cleaned, fixed, tidied and sorted, he thought carefully about this.

When he got to the porn magazine and the odd knife, he slowed down in both thoughts and actions. Though oddly, he had not been able to throw it away, he was _not_ going to put the magazine in the 'lost property' section of the museum. _That would be so demeaning._ On the other hand though, he could put the knife in there. It was, he mused as he checked it over again just to be sure, in fairly good condition, and though it was possibly the weirdest item he'd managed to find, that wasn't a valid reason for excluding it. Once he was sure it was fine, Tsuwabuki flipped open the lids of the different storage containers to find a space, only to realise the knife would not fit into any of them, so he got up and went to his cupboard to find another. Still carrying the knife, he knelt down to search, and then, something about the way the light was hitting it made him stop.

 _Tsuwabuki looked up, rubbing his eyes as if he was coming out of a sleep. The memory ringing alarm bells in his mind was so contradictorily blurry that he felt it may have been the case, but he knew he had to say what he was thinking in relation to these knives_

" _I've seen these before." He stated clearly_

" _Y-yeah…" Tada said slowly, scrutinising him. "I've brought my own one in, and sometimes I borrowed Hiro's too."_

 _But that wasn't it. If that was all it had been, then he knew he would not have been feeling this odd thudding, foreboding feeling he was getting now._

" _No, no, from somewhere else….but I can't place it. "_

Slowly, almost afraid, he got up and abandoned his quest for a container, and went back to his desk. He shone his table lamp on the knife, and reviewed its properties in his head. Green. Rubbery. Wide short blade, sturdy handle. Easy to grip. Odd writing printed on in white: 'S.A.A.U.S.O', whatever that meant. Then, he imagined their P.E lessons, and reviewed that knife. No white writing. But it was green. It was rubbery. It had a wide short blade and a sturdy handle. _Perhaps I am imagining it…but…._ Tsuwabuki held the knife he had now the same way he would hold one of the rubber knives in P.E, and gripped at it in the same way too. Then, gently, he executed some of the moves he had been taught. And the feeling he got from doing this left no doubt in his mind.

The knife he had found and the knives they were using were one and the same. This one had writing on it whereas those ones did not, so it was logical to assume that the one Tsuwabuki had found was the 'original' version, and that the writing had been scraped off for a reason. And these knives had been supplied by Tada, who had gained them from his godfather and namesake, the man who had taught Tada's own mother once. And not just anywhere, at any time, but 30 years ago, in the same class that they were all in now. Coincidences cropped up everywhere, but he wasn't sure this one was a coincidence. Though he did tend to tune out of some discussions, he knew that some of the others had found odd things about the 2014/2015 school year, and though he could not for the life of him remember what any of those were right at that moment, he was sure that added to what he had in front of him, a pretty damning case had to be made for this being something that wasn't a coincidence. And so, it had to mean something.

 _I'm_ sure _it means something. But what?_

* * *

 **Supplementary OCs introduced this chapter: **

**Aoko Aoyama (Belongs to: 3-E Student)**

 **A lot of names I dumped in this chapter are my own OCs, as you may have gathered. Some of them, like Mayu, Hajime and Yari (mentioned last chapter) will probably have more in depth appearances and more mentions, but other names and brief facts I chucked in (such as in Tsuwabuki's section of the chapter) are more to give an idea of the rest of the 'content' of the museum, to kind of add to what I have from the OCs submitted to me and the extras I created to fill things out a little.**

 **But anyway, I think this one was a pretty interesting chapter. What do you guys make of Ikuko's POV, and Katou's initial reactions to the museum (amongst other things)? How do you think various aspects of the truth will get 'exposed' now?**

 **In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter either way, and please do leave feedback!**


	52. Welcome to the Museum, part 5

**If this chapter had an alternate title, I would call it 'Revelations'.**

* * *

Even now, it was rare for the two of them to walk to school together. But Asami chose not to dwell on that, for what mattered was the fact that they were doing so in the first place. Instead, they just chatted (and squabbled) about different things. Usually Asami would bring up the topics, and do most of the talking, but occasionally Hana would go off on a long and undeniably interesting tangent, and so it was fairly entertaining. Eventually though, they ended up circling back to the upcoming school festival.

"So, how's things moving along with the festival? You got enough now, right? I saw you'd stopped asking for people."

Asami had been truly impressed when she'd found out through the grapevine about Class 3E's festival idea, and even more so when she had found out it had been Hana's own suggestion. _See,_ she had thought at the time, _you can do great things if you put your mind to it._ She'd said as much too. Her own class was doing what was essentially an arcade of sorts-a combination of music and games, made all the more elaborate and immersive by the resources that Hasegawa's contacts undoubtedly had. But the museum was an incredibly innovative idea, and Asami still found herself blown away just thinking about it. She had her own copy of the advertisement hand-out poster in her pocket, and though she had 3A to think about, she kept an eye on the Ending the End Class blog to see how things were proceeding.

"We have now, yeah. It's all about the arranging and organising now, really. We're shifting the classroom up already."

"Is that not going to disrupt your lessons?! We haven't got that far. Although Hasegawa has decided we'll be using the assembly hall instead of the classroom, but still."

"Who's going to use your classroom then?"

"Class 3B are doing a jumble sale thing, so we're loaning it to them so they have more space to sell things." That idea had been another one that had impressed her- people were truly more than they seemed or presented, and she was learning that all the more this year. It had required some seriously painful recalibration, but she was learning.

"That sounds like fun."

"It does. I'm thinking of popping over to see if there's anything I want to buy during the actual festival, if I can spare a minute."

"Hmmm…sounds good, Asami." Hana grinned. "I'm sure you'll find something. And by the way, don't worry about us getting distracted from lessons. We're managing just fine by sharing desks. "

Asami blinked before remembering her earlier question, and then laughed. _What was I even thinking? It's the festival, of course everyone has that on their mind!_

"You want Kei to come to the 3E Museum, don't you?"

She had blurted those words out almost randomly, but from the surprised look Hana gave her, she knew that she was right, even though she had absolutely no idea why she had said that.

"I…I do, but…." Hana trailed off, but they both knew what she would have said. _It's not as if he'll come._ Neither of them had visited his 3E when they'd had their school festival- they didn't even know what the class had done for it.

"And it's not as if I can ask, either. He won't even look at me. You know that, Asami."

Hana's voice hitched and Asami's heart clenched at the sound, to the point she needed to avert her eyes momentarily.

She was taken back to a few days ago when Hana had come home teary-eyed and unable to properly explain why, even as tears mutely streaked her face. She'd eventually unravelled it though- it had been because of the story of one of the women who had stepped forward to become part of the museum. Her name was Yari Fukui, and her father (already known for his violence towards his family) had attempted to murder her, her mother and her two siblings on the day she would have taken her second-year end-of-years. Protected by her elder brother, she had miraculously survived along with her little sister, but nobody else had, and after she'd finally come out of hospital, she'd been cast into 3E. Asami had not believed the story initially, and had had to look it up, and found both the lurid news stories and websites relating to a domestic violence charitable company that Yari had set up in the 20 years since. It was possibly one of the worst things she had ever heard in her life, enough to make her properly angry with the 3E system for the first time, but it had clearly been so much harder for Hana, who along with the rest of her class had heard all of this first hand from the woman herself ("All she asked of us was that we included her brother's name. That's _all_ she asked of us."). And though what they were thinking about now was an utterly different sort of pain, Asami recognised the same distress that she'd spotted then, and so she knew that Hana didn't just want Kei to visit the 3E museum, but that she _needed_ it.

 _So I will give that chance to her._

"Kei doesn't lock his door anymore."

Hana's brow wrinkled, and she tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"Hana! What's _not_ to understand?!" Asami rolled her eyes. "He. Doesn't. Lock. His. Door. Anymore. Not for a while he hasn't, anyway."

"Oh." Hana appeared to think about it. "So….do you go in?"

"Just to make sure he actually eats and showers and cleans his room." Asami clarified. "We've never had proper conversations, unfortunately. "

At this point Asami stopped, for her tone was veering into the bitter, and she took a breath. Hana continued to regard her quizzically, in a way that she'd found infuriating at first, when she'd first found out that Hana would end up in 3E, but was now one of the many endearing qualities she treasured (even if sometimes it was still a little annoying).

"So," she continued. "You have a leaflet, right?"

"Well, of course I do."

"Then, you can give that to him. I will help you get in there, and you can ask him and then give him the leaflet."

"I…." Hana now looked so hopeful, it hurt. But it was a better kind of hurt, and it convinced Asami that she would definitely do this. She would. For it was something that she could actually do that wouldn't be futile. Of course, like Hana had said, Kei could hardly look at her, so she was under no illusions that her presence would be enough to get him out there. And the fact he'd been in his room all this time made that even more complicated. But she was already making a plan to combat that, and she was confident that it would work.

"Will you really…help me….see Onii-san?"

Asami nodded vigorously. She wouldn't tell Hana her full plan, not yet. She wanted Kei's arrival at the festival on the first day to be a surprise. But first, she needed to get Kei and Hana back into contact as it were.

"Tch, do I ever go back on my word? Of course I'm going to help you. Now, this is how we can do it…."

 **…**

"I've heard that voice before."

This statement was uttered rather unexpectedly by Yukiyama as they were all quietly doing work. Ichijou had a CD player on her desk, which was playing the CD of songs that Rio had given to Tada a little while ago, in lieu of her actually appearing in the museum ('I haven't done anything special, really'). Apparently, for a music lesson, the 3E of 30 years ago had recorded four different songs and put them onto a CD. Five members of the class –including Isogai, Maehara and Karma- had been selected to sing, and all the rest had various roles including writing the lyrics, composing the music, and playing the instruments. They'd never become famous from it, they hadn't even sold it, but all of them had copies of the CD to keep, as a memory. When he had been given it, Tada had wondered why it hadn't been Isogai or Maehara who'd given him a copy, given that they had been two of the singers, but it didn't matter.

Or at least, it didn't until Yukiyama spoke up and stunned them all. _But_ why _does this observation matter? It's just a simple one….right?_

"We've been listening to this album on repeat during lessons for the past three days. What do you expect?" Kuroba rolled his eyes.

"Well, we know Isogai-san and Maehara-san pretty well now, so hearing their voices here must feel pretty familiar." Ayako suggested

"That's not it!" Yukiyama clicked his tongue. "It's _not_ them. I don't think it would be so weird that I recognised it if that was the case!"

"Oooh, dramatic!" Ruko teased, doing a jazz-hands gesture and waggling her eyebrows, which made Izzy and Hirigi snigger.

"Then…..?" Tada asked curiously. They all put their pens down and stared at Yukiyama. In response, he just put a hand up in a 'wait a moment' gesture. Ichijou had miraculously (or perhaps not so miraculously at this point of the year) fallen asleep, and so she was oblivious to her students' massive distraction.

"Listen for the next time it comes up solo. I'll signal when it does."

They all fell silent, and waited. Some of them picked up their pens again to work, but all waited for Yukiyama's signal. For reasons none of them could explain, they were all desperate to know the answer. The song that was playing finished, and the next one, the third of the four songs that Tada's mother's class 3E had recorded began.

"Kimi no koto bakari omotteiru  
Hoka no koto ni eraku natteiru  
Kanarazu sono HAATO itomeru, chikau

Iketenai no wa furui hanashi  
Oshinaru doryoku mo shitandashi  
Muchaburi mo KURIA shitekita hazu, ikeru, jishin, michiru  
Choushidzuita sono toki

Itsudatte douyatte tsuki otosarete shimau no sa  
Shindashite shiri hazu na kimi no koe ga sasattekuru  
Nanzenkai nanmankai boku no kimochi katachi ni shite  
Uchikonde nagekonde dakedo kimi wa nigeteiku made

QUESTION QUESTION boku wa-

"There." Yukiyama's voice was quiet, and they all whipped their heads back around to him. "Did you hear it?"

"Yes…but….I don't get it?" Tada said.

"Neither do I." Tsukuda shrugged.

"I-I d-don't understand either." Hidaka hesitantly revealed.

"I don't have a clue either. Sorry!" Ayako chirped. Some of the others chipped in with the same, and Yukiyama grew visibly more annoyed until Eriko piped up, having watched them all bemusedly.

"I…think I get it. But if I do, that's quite disturbing…."

"Okay, now I'm extra confused." Jori declared. "Could someone just spit it out please?"

Eriko sighed deeply, and Tada stared at her.

"I think, since Yukiyama-san has the most connection to what I think this might be, I think I'll hand over to him. Yukiyama-san?"

 _The most connection? What does that even mean….?_

Yukiyama sat up and regarded them all seriously. For the first time, he looked wary. Afraid. And then he took a deep breath and revealed all.

"It's the voice of the ghost in the forest. The exact same voice."

 **…**

Later on in the day, during lunch time, they pushed most of the desks together, to make one big table, and once Koujiro, Jori and Reno had come back from putting away the rest of the desks, Tada took out his mother's Class 3E photo album and laid it out, and they began to look through it. Music was playing from the CD player again, but this time, rather than the CD Rio had given him, it was an officially released album from one of their other museum attractions, a woman from the Class 3E of 26 years ago called Ema Uchida, who was currently a voice coach but who had once been a fairly popular _doujin_ singer/ _utaite_ who went by the name SH3ORI (which, according Ayako, who had been a fan, was just pronounced like the name 'Shiori'). But still, he found it hard to not hear the words of the other song instead. And to connect it to what Yukiyama had said- one of the voices had been that of their 'ghost'.

The ruckus that revelation had produced had been enough to wake up Ichijou, who hadn't had a clue what was going on and had no idea how to get them to calm down. There had been calls to look up the song scripts and compare, and Izzy in particular had looked as if he was a cat who'd gotten the cream. He clearly had had some information, or something relating to the revelation, but unusually, Kuroba had shut him up, telling him that that moment was not the time, and to at least wait until everyone had calmed down a little. Not that they'd really calmed, they'd just quietened and somehow managed to get through that lesson and the next.

And now they were here, searching for pictures, Tada with little arrow-shaped post-it notes at the ready, so he could mark which photos to photocopy once they'd selected them.

"So, according to my notes, the members of this 3E whose pictures we need to find are Isogai-san, Maehara-san, Kataoka-san, Akabane-san's father and mother, Ryuunosuke Chiba-san and his wife, Tomohito Sugino-san, Takuya Muramatsu-san, Taisei Yoshida-san, Yuzuki Fuwa-san and Sugaya-san. Does that sound about right?" Fuyumi asked.

"In that class, the Akabanes were Karma Akabane and Manami Okuda, and the Chibas were Ryuunosuke Chiba and Rinka Hayami. The Yoshidas were Taisei Yoshida and Sumire Hara."

"Yeah, yeah, Izzy, we _know_ that. Stop showing off." Tsukuda deadpanned.

"Yeah, that's right." Tada breezily said, trying to distract them. "Preferably if we had separate photos for each of them, though with the museum arrangements as they are, we could have some together."

"In the case of the established couples, isn't some of the success that we're trying to show people related to how they have built a good life together?" Haru pointed out.

"Yes, I think so too." Kaori put in. "So I don't think it'll be the end of the world if we didn't have fully separate pictures."

"…..not _everyone_ starts their relationships right from the age of fifteen." Kuroba challenged. Everyone looked at him.

"Don't spoil the shipping mood!" Ayako eventually retorted for them. Tada sweat-dropped a little at this, and then they started discussing the pictures, going through each page and commenting on the different scenes each showed, and the captions too. Tada was able to tell them some of the stories that each photo showed, and for a moment it was like he was back in the better part of his early childhood, sitting with Hiro on his mother's lap as she held the album for them. It felt good, and he almost forgot about the hubbub of earlier.

"Pass me that album for a minute."

"Ehhh, but Kuroba-kun, I was looking at these-"

"I'll give it back in a minute, just hand it over."

"Ohh, _fiiiiineeee_ ….."

Peeved, Ruko pushed over the large album, and Kuroba immediately began flipping back and forth, scrutinising the album from all angles. It wasn't a specific image he was looking for, that much was clear, but he was clearly looking for something, and it was so baffling that pretty much everyone quietened down to stare at him.

"Hey, hey, Sei-Chan, what's the big deal?" Izzy asked breezily, leaning in casually to try and discern what it was his brother was looking for. Hana also peered over, but more cautiously and earnestly. Tada, who was sitting opposite him, at the big table, frowned.

"Is something wrong, Kuroba-kun?"

"Heavy…too heavy." Kuroba muttered, seemingly not hearing any of them. He closed the album, frowned at the front cover, then lifted it to examine the spine before flipping it over to look at the back cover. With each section, he poked and prodded at it, carefully, but also somewhat uncertainly. Then, he turned the album back over so it was the front cover facing up, and he opened it so that he was looking at the inside of the front cover and the very first page.

"Who put this together, exactly?" he asked, not looking up as he traced the elaborate decorations with his fingers and his forehead creased even more.

"Sugaya-san...though the photographs were taken and chosen by two of the others, and the captions were written by everyone, as they passed all the albums around the class for that purpose."

"Right, that makes sense, that this is that guy's work…" Kuroba muttered. Slower now, he continued to press at the inside front cover.

"Does anyone have a magnifying glass?" was his next unexpected question. Everyone looked at each other, now even _more_ confused, and then Tsuwabuki got up, went to his bag, and pulled out a little cloth pouch that had cartoon triceratops chasing each other all over it. He carefully took a small magnifying glass out and handed it to Kuroba, who took it and nodded a distracted thanks before returning to frowning at the cover again, this time through the lens of the magnifying glass.

A few more tense, bizarre seconds passed, and Tada was just about to try and question Kuroba again, when all of a sudden, scissors suddenly materialised in the redhead's hand and he aimed them at the edge of the inside front cover.

"Kuroba-kun!" Tada stood up, knocking his chair over. "What are you..Wha-"

His protest died on his lips died when he looked down at the album. It was not in pieces, or shredded or even in a state that could reasonably be called 'damaged.' But it looked a lot different to before. The inside of the front cover was now opened out, also revealing something that Tada couldn't make very much sense of. It seemed to be a long sheet of paper folded concertina-style, as if making an elaborate booklet. It did not fall out now that it was released. Rather, it seemed to spring up, as if it had been pressed down, which it would have, if stuck behind the inside cover all this time. And stuck on each page of said booklet were some pictures with writing all around them. _No. Photographs. These are photographs._

As he registered that thought, Kuroba went and cut open the inside back cover as well, and the same kind of concertina-folded booklet appeared. Also with photographs on the pages, and written captions everywhere, in a similar style to the actual album. And then Tada remembered another detail about those long ago childhood times. Neither he nor Hiro had been allowed to hold the album. Their mother had always been the one to hold it. Sure, there were explanations about it being fragile, about the need to be careful, but those were fleeting, feeble excuses. _Was it because of this? What does this mean? What's going on?_

"Kuroba, what the hell did you do?" Tsukuda demanded.

Finally, for the first time in ages, Kuroba looked up at them. The scissors were still in his hand. Tada could feel the others recoil around him a little. Eriko discreetly left to turn off the music, and the plunging silence pulled them back together as they stared. _What's going on?What does this mean? Mum?_

"It's not damaged. I just used the scissors to lever up the opening. It could probably be done by hand, and it can be sealed up again, but it's not damaged at all."

"T-then why u-use the scissors? That's overkill!" Hidaka protested.

No doubt he was thinking about his shattered phone. It had been replaced long ago, but it was still an elephant in the room. Tada sighed. _I can't think about all these things at once._ He snagged the album and pulled it back closer to him, still standing and leaning over the table.

"What's so special about these pictures anyway?" Hirigi wanted to know. Tada shrugged as he stared down at the first set of pages. The very first image his eyes alighted on seemed to be a group photograph of some of the boys who had been in that class, shoving each other playfully and grinning as they tried to get into the shot, which appeared to have been taken inside the classroom, near the back. Which would have been perfectly fine, if they weren't all holding sleek black guns-some hand guns and a couple of rifles- as they did so. They looked perfectly comfortable as they held

 _Wait, what?_

His eyes moved to the next photograph, which was set outdoors this time. No guns in this one, but the students lounging about with drinks in the photograph- Isogai, Megu, Maehara, Okano and Rio, were wearing an outfit of a type he hadn't seen before- long sleeved grey jacket and baggy trousers for the boys, sleeveless jacket and shorts with a black long sleeved t-shirt and black leggings underneath for the girls. In all cases, the jackets had many pockets and a hood. And all of them wore black gloves and black lace-up boots with this.

His mother was in the next photograph, with Rio and Yada. They were also wearing the same sort of outfit as they aimed handguns at a hand-painted target out on the grass, near to the forest. They were concentrating hard on what they were doing, and hadn't even noticed that someone was taking a picture. But the one stuck next to it was posed- the same three girls, this time in their school uniform, sitting on a desk and beaming- Yada waving at the photographer and holding onto a hand gun, while the other two had green knives. _Wait, green knives…?_

"That looks kinda military." Koujiro commented. "Not just the clothes, but what they're doing?"

"So, what, they were in the military?" Hirigi asked. "That doesn't make sense, they were the same age we are now!"

The others discussed this, but Tada didn't join in. Instead, he stared at the photos on the pages, then slowly flicked the page over to look at the next set, then flicked again. Clothing varied between the school uniform, the normal P.E kit and the military outfit, and though there were a couple of photographs in solo, most were in groups or couples. In most, weapons of some type appeared- usually different types of guns, but also those knives. _Those can't be…can they?_

"Oh my word!"

Tada registered Tsuwabuki exclaiming and running out of the classroom, but again, didn't react, just staring at the photographs. It didn't take long for something more peculiar than weapons or clothing to show up- in a lot of pictures, the students held up phones or tablets portraying an image of a pink haired girl who grinned and posed to match the others. But in some, she appeared in a large grey box with a screen on front, located in the corner of the classroom. Tada looked up and scanned the classroom, and eventually figured out the big box would have once sat where Yukiyama's desk was. He rubbed his head, and then realised that someone was trying to talk to him.

"Huh, what?" he turned back and his eyes roved for a second before settling on Izzy, who was staring expectantly at him. "What?"

"I told you that the class of thirty years ago was hiding something."

Tada just stared at him, uncomprehending.

"What….we've been investigating all year, Tada-Chan…." Izzy enunciated his words. "You know, relating to the government having secured your mother's class's files."

"I thought you were solving a murder mystery." Was all that Tada could think to say. He flicked distractedly past an image of a giant pudding, and later photos of all the class members munching at portions of it later. Ordinarily, he would have laughed at something like that, but now, he couldn't.

"That wasn't a mystery. And thought it only took place seventeen years after all this, it's definitely connected to the government secrecy." Kuroba chipped in.

"What the _hell_ is that?!"

Ruko burst into disbelieving laughter all of a sudden, and Tada, Izzy and Kuroba turned to look at Ruko and most of the others, who had taken the album while they had been talking. Ruko looked up at them, still laughing, and held up the album, open at one of the 'secret' pages.

"Look!"

She pointed at an image of something that Tada couldn't even begin to understand (never mind the small detail that he didn't understand _anything_ at that moment). It appeared to be a large yellow creature with a round head and a lot of tentacles, dressed in the get up of a student graduating from university, sitting on a deckchair in the forest with exercise books held open in about three different tentacles, and a pen each in three more, scribbling in said books. He then used another tentacle to eat some sort of potato snack out of a packet. On the ground next to the deckchair were two piles of more exercise books. The creature had beady eyes and a big, cartoonish smile as he worked. Everyone gawped at it, and there was a split second of utter silence before everyone burst out into laughter and confusion.

"Is that a toy?"

"Some kind of mannequin?!"

"What the hell sort of mannequin looks like that?!"

"A robot, then?"

"A _round robot_ with _tentacles_?"

"It looks like an octopus!"

"That makes sense, because you get dog robots and stuff, right?"

"That doesn't even follow!"

"Would a robot be marking schoolwork and eating snacks though?!"

"Somebody in a costume? One of the teachers?"

"Maybe it's Photo shopped?"

"What, some sort of prank?"

"I don't think it's a prank…" Tada said slowly, continuing to flick through. "If it was, then it wouldn't have been…hidden."

"I agree." Kuroba said. "If anything, I think that, as unbelievably ridiculous this…thing looks real. "

"I wouldn't be surprised if this was the thing the government was trying to hide." Izzy said.

"Tch, what, the government wanted to hide some rubber octopus in the classroom? Why the hell would they need to do that?" Hirigi snorted.

"Because they were trying to get that class to kill it." Akira said quietly, sobering the mood again instantly. At some point, she had taken the album and had opened it to a different page, and pointed at one particular photograph, where Isogai, Karma and a blue-haired boy didn't recognise were all aiming green knives at the creature, who had the same ridiculous smile and seemed to artfully be dodging them all.

It was at that moment Tsuwabuki came back, carrying one of the boxes of the 'treasures' he had brought in that day, as well as one of the knives they used for P.E. Tada whipped around to him, remembering how hurriedly he had left.

"Did you notice something too?!" he demanded. _Give me answers._

Tsuwabuki sputtered and nodded, reaching them quickly. He glanced at the photographs briefly before explaining.

"Look," he said soberly. He put down the plain green rubber knife, and then opened the box he had with him and took out what at first looked like an identical knife. It took a moment for them to notice, but the one that Tsuwabuki had found had big white text on it.

"Special Arms Against Unidentified Slimy Octopus?" Haru read incredulously.

"Ah, so that's what it said." Tsuwabuki nodded, relieved. _If only I could be that relieved by that._

"I found it during the summer. It was buried and wrapped in a porn magazine in the forest."

"Ahem, did you say a _porn magazine_?" Jori queried. Tsuwabuki nodded slowly.

"Unfortunately, yes. But in any case, it's hard to deny that these two are very similar. And now…"

"You have an exact match for where they come from."

Tada took back the album and flicked back and forth through the pictures that had been concealed in both the front covers and the back covers. He tried to match the things he knew-or thought he knew- to what he was seeing. He picked up the two knives and compared them. Though he tried to nit-pick and find differences that would not conclusively prove that the backbone of his upbringing had been a lie, but he couldn't. The photographs told the cold, hard truth, even though they didn't really give that many answers. And then his fingers pulled out a loose photograph.

"Oh, there was a loose one in there too?" Ruko asked. Tada nodded, but didn't show it to them. Instead, he just stared down at it, picking out the different faces. Megu in the left corner of the image holding a tablet with that image of the pink-haired girl, Isogai beaming in the right hand corner. His mother next to Maehara, both grinning and flashing peace signs. Manami kneeling, with Karma standing next to her as nonchalant as always, ending up in the centre of the image with a blue haired boy (though the ponytails made him mentally double check that ) and a green-haired girl with a similar hairstyle, though her ponytails somehow ended up looking like cat ears for some reason. The odd octopus-creature-thing was behind them, holding an understandably pissed off Terasaka in the air with his tentacles. Everyone looked generally happy in the picture, and if it wasn't for the obviously wrong thing in that image, it would have just been an informal posed class picture. _A memento._ Thinking about this, he flipped the picture over.

" _Thank you, Koro-sensei!"_

And twenty-eight names signed underneath. The only one he didn't recognise was 'Ritsu', which, in contrast to all the other names, was printed neatly.

"Huh, unkillable teacher?" Kuroba laughed, clearly getting the pun as well. "That's that thing's _name_?!"

"I can't help but think that explains some of this. If he had to be their teacher as well, I mean…" Fuyumi mused.

Ignoring them, Tada flipped the photo back over, and studied each face. His eyes settled on the blue-ponytailed boy and the green haired girl. He'd seen them in the pictures –the ones he'd known of- before, many times. But now he realised that he had never seen them before. Not in real life. And he'd met _everyone_ who had been in that class before, even if only once. Every one of them.

 _But I haven't met that creature. And those two…..who are they?_

The others began to chat and speculate about what they had found and what it meant, and Tada held the picture, fixed into place, helpless. The picture began to tremble in his hand, and he realised he was shaking. Shaking and shaking.

"Tada, sit down."

A pair of hands pushed at his shoulders and pulled the picture from his hand, setting it down on the table. Docilely, he sat down on the chair that someone had righted at some point without him noticing, and stared down at his still trembling hands. Wordlessly, Tsukuda came up behind him and reached for his shaking hands and gripped them. Somehow, he managed to curl his own fingers around her hands to grip back, and eventually, the trembling stopped, and he was able to breathe.

"Thanks, Hanae."

"No problem." He felt her rest her chin on his shoulder, and couldn't help but smile. Then, he looked up to see everyone staring at the both of them.

"So you two _are_ courting!" Ayako exclaimed eventually. She clapped her hands together. "That's great!"

"It is, isn't it?" Ruko cackled. "I mean, it's a shame that Tsukuda-san isn't a boy as well, otherwise you two would actually be one of my real life OTPs but oh well….I still ship you two anyway."

"Er, thanks?" Tsukuda sounded bemused, and Tada honestly didn't blame her.

"Aren't you all just making assumptions?" Reno asked. "Have they said anything to suggest that you're right?"

"Uh…that's a good point. Eri-Chan?"

"Kao-Chan, why are you asking _me_?" Eriko sighed, rubbing her forehead. "But the answer is really, how could I _not_ know, spending the entire year working with them and all? Not to mention, how could anyone _not_ know?"

"That's true, that's true!" Haru exclaimed earnestly, clasping her hands together. "They're always so utterly lovely to each other, aren't they? It does make me happy to see it."

"And it was destined to happen one day." Fuyumi calmly proclaimed to Jori's teasing mutters of 'crystal ball'.

"Still, it is a bit rude to just …assume isn't it? Isn't the convention that these things are announced?" Tsuwabuki wondered.

"So….why not just _ask_?" Kitabayashi pointed out tiredly, watching the situation with an unusual interest. Ayako blinked at him.

"Oh, right. So," she turned back to Tada and Tsukuda. "Are we right? Are we?!"

"Uh, yes…." The jarring conversation shift meant his brain had to whirr a little faster for him to catch up. Ayako didn't notice, as an almost disturbingly gleeful expression lit up her face and she pulled out her notebook.

"So, how long? Since it's been official?"

"The end of the summer….." Tada sweat-dropped. "More to the point, why did you say 'courting' as opposed to…I don't know, 'dating' or something like that?"

Ayako put away her notebook and scrunched up her face. Unexpectedly, it was Hidaka who provided the answer.

"Well, s-somehow t-that d-d-doesn't seem to be t-the r-right word, g-given h-how y-you act and all…"

"Erm, well, we're happy that you're so happy, I guess…." Tada said.

"Though this is ridiculously weird." Tsukuda added.

"And also completely off topic." Kuroba's stern tone cut in. "I thought we were trying to get to the bottom of this, as opposed to dissecting your love life."

Tada looked back at the images. For a moment, he had been able to forget them, and now, it didn't seem as if he'd ever be able to do that again. Kuroba watched Tada carefully, and his look softened slightly as he reached out for the one loose picture.

"You probably want to know what happened to these two, right?" he pointed at the boy and the girl in that image. "Or rather, what we found out."

"I…your murder mystery involved them? Were they the ones killed? Is that why I never knew them?"

Kuroba closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Tada waited, not sure what to say or do or feel.

"I should show you that first." He opened his eyes and grabbed at the album again. "How to open and close the compartments. Then I'll tell you."

"Coolio, then I'll fire the laptop up. There's a whole lotta stuff to show you. You probably wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it. That being said, there's still loads even we don't know, because I can't access it." Izzy said casually as he loped over to get his laptop, and then returned to the table.

"Pull your chair over, "Kuroba told Tada. "We may as well get started now."

Tsukuda stood up and took a step back. When Tada looked at her, she nodded soberly. Naturally, she did not need to say anything. And so he got up again, and carried his chair over, setting it between Kuroba and Hana.

"…Ju-kun, you shouldn't sound so excited." Hana piped up suddenly just as Tada sat down again. Kuroba raised an eyebrow at her. Tada looked from one to the other and back again.

"Do I sound 'excited'?"

Hana shrugged, then glanced at Izzy.

"Well, maybe it's more Ii-kun who needs to know, but..." Izzy looked up and stuck his tongue out at her. "…but, this isn't just a murder mystery now, is it?"

"I know that, Hana. " Kuroba informed her as he busily worked at figuring out how to close and open the secret compartments of the photo album. Tada held the loose picture in his hand tightly, as if it was a talisman or something.

"Could you…tell me their names to start with?" he asked quietly. Both Kuroba and Izzy seemed to not hear him, but Hana did.

"In that class, they were Nagisa Shiota and Kaede Kayano. "

Though she didn't clarify which one was which, Tada instinctively knew that the boy with his blue ponytails, standing dead centre in the image, proclaiming his joy to the holder of the camera and whoever was looking at it was Nagisa. _How does such a proclamation translate into killing?_

"Oh yeah, the rest of you should probably leave now." Kuroba added.

"Excuse me, what?" Jori spluttered. "That's a bit rude."

"He means with the telling of what's been found. " Hana clarified quietly, looking wistful as she did.

"I agree with that, actually." Tsukuda said. "This is about Tada, really, not us. Not that I think that we don't have a right to know, given the whole 3E connection and the fact we've just discovered the photographs. But it should be Tada who gets to know things first. Not us. It's not our childhoods and backgrounds that've just been put up for scrutiny now, right?"

 _Hanae…._ She was right, of course. His childhood had revolved around these people. He'd thought that he'd known them so well.

"Certainly, you have a point, Tsukuda-san. Perhaps we should go to the Home Economics room and have lunch there?" Haru suggested.

"Yeah, I'm fine with whatever." Koujiro breezed, "Still, that was a pretty level headed thing for you to say, Tsukuda-Chan!"

"And that's meant to mean _what_ , exactly….?!"

Tsukuda's eyebrow twitched, and Tada had to stifle a laugh as Koujiro continued to tease her and everyone filed out. It was also funny to hear Yamada complaining about being taken away from her precious window seat and Ayako sulking about not being able to hear the 'exciting stuff', but once they were all gone, things became serious again. Kuroba spent a few moments figuring out the mechanisms of the album compartments, then with an unusual level of patience, he showed Tada how to do the same, and after a few attempts and errors, he was soon able to figure out just how to manipulate the different decorations to reveal the other photos, without needing to resort to scissor wielding in the same way Kuroba had initially done. Tada then closed the album properly, and turned to Izzy, who had all manner of things opened up on the computer, including archived online editions of newspapers from around thirteen years ago. The different articles put up

"You should read those first." Hana said. "They'll give you the basic overview of things. And I'll get my notes."

"You made notes?!"

"Sure, not everything can be kept on a laptop or computer, right?"

"Though what's wrong with doing that, I don't even know…" Izzy pulled a silly face as he slid the laptop over so that Tada could read the different articles properly. He did so, and soon found out that the victim was called Kotaro Yanagisawa, and that he had been a scientist, a prominent one by the looks of it. It was a sad story, given that it was murder, but he didn't understand exactly what was significant about it until he saw the name of the one who had been responsible.

"Kaede….Kayano-san? The same one?" He didn't think he needed to clarify what he meant by the 'same one'.

"Yeah, the same one." Izzy informed him. "Though, who she is happens to be slightly questionable as well. "

"In…what sense?"

"We ourselves haven't untangled this one, but it's possible that Kaede Kayano was once Akari Yukimura, who used the stage name Haruna Mase, who was a pretty popular child actor a long while back. Actually, we're fairly sure. She'd actually taken a short break just before your mother would have started here, and then pretty much disappeared from the public eye. And then, a few weeks into the 3E year, the moon explodes and then Kaede Kayano appears. And she ended up an actor too. Before she was arrested, of course." Kuroba said.

"I…erm….okay." Tada said. He glanced down at the loose photograph. He'd kept it out of the album for reasons he couldn't explain, and once again he studied the young faces. _What were you hiding?_

"So has she been in jail all of this time?" he asked.

"She murdered a man, and in a pretty horrific way too. She got a life sentence. What does that tell you?"

Tada blinked at Kuroba, who had returned to being brisk and impatient, and turned to look at the newspapers again.

"But these don't really give any details, though? Like, there's the basic announcement, if you like, and then a bunch of nothingness and then….ah, right, life sentence verdict, bumped down from death se-oh my god."

 _If that hadn't happened, if it had been th….where would that leave things?_

"Right then, this is where I come in." Izzy declared, "Gimme that."

"Uh…okay." Tada let Izzy reclaim his laptop, and just waited, head spinning as Izzy's fingers danced across the keyboard, a thing possessed.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Hana murmured. "It's good at least she's still alive."

"Hmm, yeah. I guess….I just don't get how I didn't know about it before."

"Two reasons- first, you were two years old or thereabouts. And second, you'll soon see there are some rather direct connections with what was hidden thirty years back, whatever it means." Kuroba huffed.

"Ahh…" Tada sighed, then thought of something. "Where does the other one come into this? Nagisa Shiota-san, that is?"

"He used to be Kaede Kayano's boyfriend. He went missing after she was sentenced, and has remained that way since."

"He's our ghost." Hana said at the same time. Tada gawped.

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

Hana closed her eyes for a moment, then got up and went to the CD player, and picked up the cover of the CD that Rio had given to him, bringing it back and handing it.

"Look at the singers listed, then at the lyric booklet for the third song. " Hana advised. Tada frowned, and then it clicked.

"Yukiyama-kun!" he remembered. "I completely forgot about this morning!"

 _And in the end, it turned out to be important. How could I have forgtoten?_ Carefully, he did what Hana had advised, now paying closer attention to the faces on the cover. He had dismissed the fact that there had been two he hadn't recognised before. Now, it was all he could notice, even as he looked for the names.

'Class 3E Uta-tan: Nagisa & Kayano & Karma & Isogai & Maehara (Nagisa Shiota, Kaede Kayano, Karma Akabane, Yuuma Isogai and Hiroto Maehara.'

 _Both of them, huh? But now I'm thinking….if I wasn't supposed to know these two, why was I given this? And so…._

Quickly, he flicked through the booklet until he spotted the third song. Rather helpfully, each section of the song had who had specifically sung it at the beginning, like it was a script, and so it didn't take him long to find the spot that had caused Yukiyama to so confidently declare that their ghost was right there.

'Nagisa: QUESTION QUESTION boku wa '

….. _ever even know about you?_ He mentally finished the question the song asked, for right about now, it was pretty apt. What did he know about anything right now, really?

"So if Yukiyama-kun is right then….."

"All things considered, I think he _is_ right. Which means what you are thinking is too, if I am right about what you are thinking." Kuroba nodded.

"Say, do you want to come to The Zoo with us after school?" Izzy asked suddenly as he stopped typing and pushed the laptop back he could see again.

"The zoo?" Tada felt like he should have gotten used to dramatic turns and twists in conversation at this point in time.

"Yeah, sure. We're dropping by there after school, might have takeaway pizza too. You'd probably like it there at the Zoo."

"He's referring to Naoya and Yuuya's house." Kuroba told him, evidently noting his ever-increasing bafflement. Tada nodded, feeling slightly enlightened, remembering Izzy's neighbours. Knowing what he knew, the label of 'zoo' made some sense.

Looking back down at the photo still in his hand, yet another thought popped into his head. _Hiro. Hiro needs to know all of this too. I need to straighten it all out in my head so that I can tell her without wavering. I need to._

"If she's free after school, can I ask my sister to come along too?"

Izzy scrunched up his face for about a millisecond before grinning widely and nodding.

"Sure thing! The more the merrier, right?"

"I don't see why that would be an issue. " Kuroba agreed.

"It'd be lovely if Hiro-san came!" Hana added.

Tada couldn't help but smile at this. _I guess it'll give me the time to relax and prepare, if proper relaxation is possible after this._

"Then I guess I could come."

* * *

 **This was...a weird chapter to write. Not sure why, but it was weird. Also, I just made the opening songs for the AssClass anime a story plot point =D. It was going to happen sooner or later.**

 **So, anyway, if anyone's interested, I have a few more VA headcanons:**

 **Hidaka-Koudai Sakai (Mitsumune from Mayoiga)  
Otsuka-Azumi Asakura (I can't remember how to spell the VA's surname, but she voiced Isuke in Akuma no Riddle)  
Ikuko- Risa Taneda (but more in the way that she voiced Saki from Shin Sekai Yori as opposed to Kaori from KimiUso)** **Kaito- I can't remember his name right now, but this VA voiced Shoutaro in the Sakurako-san anime.  
Kiyono-Kotori Koiwai (Ren-chon in Non Non Biyori)** **Aimi (Ueno's sister, not Tomoki)-Ai Kayano or Mami Uchida ( Hitsugi from Akuma no Riddle)  
Principal Okikura- the VA who voiced Yashiro in ERASED. ****  
Hirigi- Natsuki Hanae (but more how he was Hikari in Nagi no Asukara rather than Kousei in KimiUso)**

 **And, well, yeah. Can't think of anything else to say, so I'll leave it at that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter- and please leave feedback, as usual!**


	53. Welcome to the Museum, part 6

It was not every afternoon, or even every day, that Tada ate pizza in a house with a parrot and two canaries constantly flying around his head and a capuchin monkey chattering while sitting on his head, but it was certainly an interesting experience. Next to him, Hiro was spending more time petting the two cats of the household than she was actually attempting to eat her own pizza, while Izzy seemed perfectly at ease scoffing slices one after another and rough-and-tumbling with the three dogs, most notably the golden retriever that was referred to as 'Ame'. Hana sat over by the cages that held the guinea pig and the gerbil, gazing at them intently, nibbling at the slices she'd taken. Kuroba, on the other hand, was a lot more sedate, not eating anything as he observed the fish (and one starfish) happily swimming around in the large tank as they got fed.

"Ah, Seicchi, you're not going to eat the tasty pizza?" Yuuya asked as he carefully measured out tiny spoonfuls of the cereal-like fish-food and dropped them through the open lid. Kuroba's red eyes flicked up to meet the merry brown eyes that watched him, and he snorted. Tada stifled a laugh at this exchange. From what he understood, the two had only known each other for a relatively small amount of time, but they seemed to muddle along just fine.

"Am I five?" was the retort he came back with. Yuuya simply laughed at this as he closed the fish tank lid and went back to sit down on the arm of the sofa that Tada and Hiro currently occupied, causing one of the dogs that Izzy had been playing with to abandon him and go over to him. He laughed, and reached down to stroke the dog for a few moments, before reaching over to get a slice of pizza of his own.

"Seicchi, you'd better grab them before they're all gone…" Yuuya teased. Kuroba narrowed his eyes, and then got up and strode over to grab a slice of his own before going back to the fish tank. He started tearing into it with his teeth, giving Yuuya a dirty look the whole time. Yuuya, naturally, didn't seem too annoyed, and looked as if he was about to come up with a new line of teasing when an annoyed shout came from the kitchen.

"YUUYA! Why are the hamsters sitting in the microwave?!"

 _What?!_

"How on earth do your hamsters end up in the _microwave_?" Hiro verbally expressed the astonishment Tada felt as she tilted her head and furrowed her brow.

"Ah, this happens a lot." Izzy breezily informed them as Yuuya rushed to the kitchen. Soon, a heated discussion could be heard, along with frantic footsteps and a lot of scuffling. All five teenagers in the living room tipped their head to the sound.

"Tch, that's the trouble with having so many animals, isn't it?" Kuroba shook his head and grinned.

"It sounds like it makes a fun household though." Hiro pointed out. Tada nodded at this, remembering the conversation they'd had when Yuuya and Naoya had come up to apply for the museum.

"Yeah, that's the impression I got. " Tada said.

"Me, too." Hana quietly asserted. Finishing her slice of pizza, instead of going over to get another one, she turned to Kuroba.

"Ju-kun, perhaps you should take those fish home, then."

Kuroba gaped at Hana, who beamed serenely at him. This lasted for a moment, before Kuroba laughed and shook his head in utter amazement.

"Why, exactly, is it about me today?" he wondered.

"Because you're an easy target." Izzy proclaimed casually. Now everyone stared at him, before they all burst out into laughter again. It was at this point that Yuuya returned, this time with Naoya behind him, carrying a tray with some glasses of juice.

"Sorry we took so long," Naoya said, "We had a hamster problem."

"We heard." Izzy deadpanned.

This earned him an exasperated but still fond look from both men, though in Yuuya's case there was a comic exaggeration to it. Putting the tray down on the coffee table, next to the box that held the remaining pizza slices, Naoya took a glass of juice and then a slice of pizza and then straightened.

"Don't hesitate to grab a glass if you want." He told them as he went to stand next to Yuuya, who was perched on the sofa arm again. As he bit into his pizza slice, some locks of his bright white hair fell into his eyes, and he shook his head a little, trying to get it out of the way. A slightly frustrated expression coloured his usually neutral face as he realised he'd need to put something down to fix his fringe, but Yuuya noticed and tutted, taking over.

"You lost the hair clips, Nacchi! How'd you manage to do that?"

"How would I know? It was there one minute, the next it wasn't!"

"Perhaps you lost it when we were trying to round up Miff and Kiki."

"….that isn't a _good thing_ , Yuuya."

"Well, we managed to get them back in the cages in the end, so it's not like it matters. There, all done!" Yuuya beamed once he'd managed to get the fringe clipped to the side again, and took a moment to tenderly smooth Naoya's hair before removing his hand. Naoya smiled back, and then continued to eat and drink. Tada studied the couple, and thought again of how happy they were together, how they'd made a good life together, here in this loud and colourful house. _I'll have that with Hanae someday. Well, maybe not so many animals, but still._ At that moment, it was the one aspect of his future he was sure of. After what they had found out today, he wasn't sure that he really knew anything, which wasn't helped by the fact that what had been found really wasn't an answer at all.

"You seem to like the cats, Hirocchi." Yuuya commented, jolting him out of his thoughts. Tada turned to his sister, who was still perfectly happy with the two cats curled up next to her. He chuckled, and she pulled a face at him.

"Yeah, I like cats. We have a cat where we're living. Her name is Kaede."

 _Kaede. She was Karasuma-sensei's cat, and we don't know where she came from before that. And today I learnt that Mum had a classmate called Kaede, who's currently in jail for murder. What does that mean?_

The curious look that Hiro gave him was enough to clue him into the fact that some of what he was currently thinking was displaying itself on his face, so he made an effort to shake it away, to try and enjoy the moment. Soon enough, it would go away and he'd have to face up to how to tell Hiro about everything in any case.

"Oooh, Kaede, nice name." Yuuya laughed.

"Isn't Osamu-san's kid called Kaede?" Izzy asked. Both Yuuya and Naoya frowned at him, and then they shook their heads.

"Mio." They corrected.

"Wait, Osamu-san? You know Osamu-san? This is the same Osamu-san, right?" Tada asked, thinking of one of their other museum attractions, from the 3E of 11 years ago, who now worked in a relatively high-up position at a bank despite having been told over and over he'd amount to nothing as a result of poor maths scores, and who had recently become a father for the first time.

"It is." Izzy confirmed. "He lives on this road, actually."

Tada face-palmed.

"I don't know how I managed to not know this for all this time." He groaned, making everyone in the room chuckle.

"That was a great sentence." Naoya commented calmly. It was hard to tell if he was joking or not.

"But anyway, that baby is hella cute! So adorable!" Yuuya enthused. "Osacchi and Emicchi- his wife- come over every so often, and last time they came in with her and…."

Yuuya trailed off and just grinned. Naoya rolled his eyes, but also smiled.

"Do you two ever think about becoming parents?" Tada asked suddenly. Almost immediately after, he covered his mouth. _Wait, why did you ask that?_ For a brief moment, he supposed that his current inability to follow any conversation changes had made him decide that he may as well inflict some himself, so that at least he'd be in control of them. _So that there is something else I know for sure, at least._

"Sure, we _think_ about it!" Yuuya eventually answered chirpily, after exchanging a look with Naoya. "But that's not really a possible option for us, not the way we are."

"That, and we have all these rascals to deal with." Naoya gestured to their surroundings, indicating all the animals that were currently in the room.

"But it doesn't have to be an impossible thing?" Tada frowned, not sure if he was asserting something or asking it. _But either way,_ why _am I pursuing this. Do I need to?_

"Uh, Tada, are you forgetting something vital?" Hiro asked pointedly. Naoya raised an eyebrow at how she had worded that, and Tada himself did a double take before somehow managing to clear his mind.

"I know that! That isn't what I meant."

Perhaps he was just projecting, but he was sure he was onto something.

"There's always adoption, right? That doesn't make you less of a parent, not at all." He continued insistently.

"Ah…..well, that's a bit of a minefield, isn't it?" Naoya considered. "But it isn't really as if we've not thought about it, right, Yuuya?"

"Hmm, yeah. I don't think social services would be too enamoured with a couple like us…."

Yuuya trailed off, and looked wistful for a moment, and Tada regretted bringing up the topic.

"That's not true!" Hana piped up indignantly. "You could ask Isogai-san to help you!"

"Exactly!" Tada got back some of his vigour. "Not everyone is, well, bigoted. And if you wanted to become adoptive parents, he'd at least know where to point you."

"Plus, you've had practise with me." Izzy pointed out. At this point, the dogs had left him to go and do whatever it was that dogs did in their spare time, and so Izzy sat upright on the carpet, legs crossed as he grinned up at them all.

"That's true, you rascal." Naoya said fondly.

"I'm honoured that you'd think of me that way, Chibisuke!" Yuuya proclaimed. "And you guys as well, that's so kind!Nacchi, aren't you touched? Doesn't this make you feel validated? Doesn't it give you hope for the future?"

Yuuya's tone had become a little more melodramatic towards the end of his list of semi-rhetorical questions, and so Naoya rolled his eyes again. Just as he had when the two of them had come up to the 3E campus, Tada got the sense that Naoya rolled his eyes a lot because of Yuuya.

"Yes, yes." He patted Yuuya's shoulder, then turned to them all. "Kids tend to be attracted to him, as it happens. By mischief waves of doom. My younger brothers are proof of this."

Tada chuckled, and Hiro stifled a giggle, as did Hana. Izzy just smiled enigmatically, while Kuroba studied them calmly. Naoya grinned unexpectedly, and then turned serious, casually leaning his head against Yuuya's side as he maintained eye contact with Tada.

"Still, though nothing might really come of the thought, thanks for that. For reminding us that the heroes are still around."

"Um, thanks."

"What made you bring it up anyway? You seem a bit young to be thinking about parenthood yourself, even if you have a pretty lady already. Perhaps it is to do with your own parents? Are you thinking of them now, particularly because of your mother having been a 3E girl herself?"

As Tada was fairly sure that he hadn't mentioned anything about his mother and father to Naoya and Yuuya before, he had no idea how Yuuya could possibly know about them both being dead. And of course, he could hardly admit to them that for as long as he could remember, one of his biggest dreams was to one day be a parent himself. He'd had two of the best examples of what a parent could be, growing up. _At least, I did. Or thought I did. But what do I have now?_ Tada rubbed his head, everything flooding in again, and then he noticed Hiro regarding him with yet another quizzical look.

" _Did you tell them about Mama and Papa?"_ Hiro signed. Tada shook his head and shrugged before replying.

" _No. And I don't know how he knows."_

" _Oh. That's odd. Though I don't think it's bad, necessarily. But anyway, what's up with you?"_

For one brief, disorienting moment, Tada thought about denying it, but instantly realised the futility of such a thing.

" _I can't talk about it now. When we get home, then I'll tell you. Okay?"_

Hiro pursed her lips, but nodded at him, before getting up to go get a glass of juice. The cats yawned and mewled a little, but did not seem too bothered at her leaving momentarily. Naoya cleared his throat, and Tada turned.

"I apologise for him." Naoya pointed his thumb at Yuuya. "He needs new hobbies."

"No I don't!" Yuuya stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Yes, you do."

"Well, I wouldn't know anything if I did! Chibisuke never says anything!" Yuuya whined and mock pouted. Tada looked to Izzy to see what he would have to say about this. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he seemed fairly relaxed.

"Meh, nothing personal, Yucchi." Was his explanation. Yuuya pouted further, and Naoya rolled his eyes once again. Tada watched them, and wondered at the specifics of the bonds that connected them. What secrets they would have been keeping from each other, if any. He somehow doubted there were any major secrets, but then again, how would he know? From what he understood, the history that knotted them together (and that, in turn, connected Kuroba to them) was a deep and tangled one indeed. _Still, it can't be anything like what I just discovered today….nothing could possibly be like that….._

Hiro came back, holding two glasses, one of which she shoved at him. He took it gratefully and sipped large gulps from it, suddenly feeling very thirsty.

"Ju-kun, do you want one of the last slices?" Hana had come over to get a slice of pizza, and held up another one where Kuroba was sitting, now studying them instead of the fish. He considered.

"Ahh, you might as well, Sei-Chan," Izzy drawled. "There's only two other slices left, and I might take another one myself…."

"…really, Izzy? Really?"

"Aww, come on, Seicchi. Don't disappoint your little brother…." Yuuya cajoled, grinning manically. He could have been a suitable human stand-in for the Cheshire cat, with how cheerful he looked at picking up the joke again. Naturally, Kuroba was not nearly as pleased.

"Argh, I'll take it. Not for you, mind you!" he got up to meet Hana halfway and took the slice from her, tearing into it as soon as he had nodded his thanks.

"Ah, speaking of which!" A mischievous glint suddenly appeared in Izzy's eyes. "Yuki, Nacchi, Sei-Chan said he'd be willing to take the fishes and the starfish off of your hands…"

" _Izzy!_ I said no such thing!"

 **…**

When Kei heard his room door swing open, he stopped scrolling through the blog page he had open and waited for the latest scolding from Asami, whether it took the form of a brief order or a frustrated barrage. But it did not come. Instead, there was a quiet shuffling, and then a hesitant semi-silence, as if he was being studied. It made the back of his neck prickle, and soon he couldn't ignore it.

"What do you want, Asami?"

"I…"

She trailed off, but that one word was all that Kei needed to know that he had been mistaken. _Hana. I…what…what am I supposed to even do?_ He fought against the way he felt himself stiffen up, and took a few deep breaths. Perhaps he could ignore her, and perhaps she would get tired of waiting and go away. But if Hana was as he remembered her, if the year hadn't eaten away at most of who she was at this point, he knew that she'd wait him out, patient but sorrowful. _That, and I can't ignore her._ He couldn't. But at the same time, he did not want to see what he was sure to see.

 _Calm down, take deep breaths._ Though the words just echoed in his own head, he felt as if someone else was saying them to him. Maybe DoubleI, though he didn't even know what their voice would even vaguely be like. But he followed the advice, and then carefully turned around on his chair to face his other sister.

"Hana."

"….Onii-san." Hana was in pyjamas, her hair in plaits, and she held something close to her chest. A sheet of shiny paper. Her eyes were wide, with the same beseeching nature he remembered. But when he looked closely for shadows, he did not find any. Or rather, he did, but much, much less than he had expected. In fact, she looked almost bright. He didn't know how to process that, how to match that to the floundering that had made him decide it would be better to stay in this little cage of his forever.

"Is….something wrong?" _Are you here to tell me just what you think of me? How I'm the one that sent you into 3E?_

"I, um, no…." Hana bit her lip, hesitating. Her eyes moved up and down, taking him in. Warily, he stared back at her, until she stepped forward, then stopped, then took another step. Eventually, she was only a few steps away from him, and then she stuck out the hand that was holding the sheet of paper. Kei found himself thinking of times he'd spent skulking in quiet corners, back during his own middle school years, and coming across a few girls confessing to crushes by accident as a result. Naturally, such circumstances had not interested him, but the desperate earnestness Hana showed reminded him of that sort of thing, just a little, and that just flummoxed him more.

"I want you to know about this!" she burst out, her hand quivering even as she kept her arm straight. Surprised, Kei looked down at what she was holding, and took it, scanning it briefly at first, but finding himself reading and re-reading it, trying to make sense of what he was reading.

"….a museum?"

"A 3E museum." Hana corrected him stoutly. Surprised at her tone, he looked up wildly before staring down at the little hand-out poster again.

"The school festival….huh?" _What did we even do for our own school festival? I can't remember it. I cannot imagine it being anything special though. Anything worth remembering._

"I just wanted you to know about it, that's all! " Hana burst out, reminding him that he hadn't said anything else for a long moment. "I'll go now. So, um, see you later!"

"Hana, I-"But before he could ask anything, she was gone, almost as if she had just de-materialised. It struck him that that was the first proper conversation that the two of them had had for a long time. _Yet it wasn't even one._ Staring at the sheet, he turned back to his desk, and carefully slid the leaflet so that it stuck out from underneath his mousemat, before turning back to what it was he had been looking at online before Hana's unexpected entry.

Time went by idly, as it tended to do in his self-created cage, and he was almost lulled back into the same emptiness he always had, when his door slammed open yet again. But this time, there was no mistake as to who it was.

"Did she come to you then?" Asami asked, shutting the door behind her. Kei heaved a heavy sigh, and spun the chair around again. He made a gamble as to what Asami was referring to, though he didn't really think it required that much thought power to figure it out.

"Yes."

Asami raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. Her visible disapproval was not unusual, but somehow it felt different today.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"Is there _meant_ to be anything else that I have to say?"

"Well, even I'm not so boneheaded as to think you'll be able to go there with no problems after spending a year in your room. So, you'll need to think about that."

"…have I missed something?"

Asami rolled her eyes, and strode across the room, poking his chest with her finger and getting right up into his face, glaring.

"Bloody hell, you're dense, aren't you? You're _going_ to that museum, okay? "Asami spotted the leaflet, and pulled it swiftly from under the mouse mat and shoved it in his face. "Hana wants you to go there, you know."

"She does?" _Clearly, I'm missing something._

"Tch, she didn't actually even ask, did she…..but anyway, that's not the point. She really, badly, seriously wants you to go to this. But of course, you being the way you are right now, you hopeless idiot, she doesn't even believe that's even possible, and that's just not fair! So if it's the last thing you do, you better get yourself together so that when the festival starts, you can walk out of the door."

During this rant, Asami was clearly and obviously angry. But she wasn't yelling at him, or even speaking in a normally-toned voice. Instead, she was oddly quiet, and though it did not make sense, because of it being Asami, Kei somehow surmised that she was deadly serious.

"I…can't leave."

It was a feeble protest- he knew it, and it was patiently obvious Asami knew it too. Her eyes narrowed further, and she didn't yield.

"Oh, but you are. "

"I somehow doubt it. What makes you think that I could even do that? Look at me!" he gestured to himself, at his lack of muscles and his rumpled clothes. Asami followed his gaze, and then met his eyes again, making him recoil.

"I probably should have asked you this before, but what the actual hell happened to you? You used to have all these….all these…." Asami waved her hands around randomly, and then found the word, continuing seamlessly.

"Ambitions! And they were so silly, and stupid, but at least you had _them_ , and _talked_ about them. And you were bright with it, too! I mean, I know I spent so much time picking holes in them, because I thought that there were holes there, but that was fun. It was normal, expected. You're our big brother, we're supposed to argue like that, over ideas and things, we're supposed to find it funny and forgive each other for the night before starting all over again. It's not meant to be like _this_! I mean, have you looked at yourself lately? Where've you gone? And not to mention, just how self-centred have you become in the last year? Because sure, you were always wrapped up in these freaking ideas of yours, but now it seems like you've just completely forgotten that you're meant to be our _brother_!And…..I've just been ordering you around all year, and it seems I've forgotten how to be your little sister."

 _Asami…._ Kei didn't fully understand what Asami was saying, but at the same time he found himself touched. For the first time in a long time, it felt like they were trying to meet on the same page.

"I...Asami…somehow, I'm surprised."

Unexpectedly, this made Asami pout and blush, and she averted her eyes for a moment.

"Pfft, I've been…learning a lot of things this year."

"I figured. You always liked to do well at school, regardless of what the school is like."

"Do you mind _not_ going ideological on me for a moment, please?" Asami huffed in annoyance, but there was almost a laughing quality to it before she became sombre again.

"Anyway, the point is, with Hana's involvement in Ending the End Class, and other things that have happened, I've been thinking a lot of things about….well, things. And I'm starting to think that I'm starting to get where you were coming from, back when you were in Kunugigaoka and you used to rant at us about the system. I mean, I myself don't hate the place overall, but…instead of seeing holes in your words, I'm seeing it there. But still, the point is, that's no excuse for you to be like this, just rotting away."

"I…I think I get you." Kei sighed heavily, and looked down at his hands. _It's going to be scary, isn't it._

"Good." Asami straightened and finally gave him some breathing space. "By the way, this is going to be a surprise for Hana. So be careful how you prepare for this, okay?"

"How are we going to keep it a surprise?"

"Well, as it happens, Hana's out of the house a lot, preparing the museum in general, other Ending the End Class stuff. That gives you an advantage. Plus, you're alone in the house a lot, right? So use that. Wander around the house, try and remind yourself what the rest of it looks like."

Kei opened his mouth to tell Asami about how he had stood out on the landing not too long ago, but he found himself thinking he'd need to explain about DoubleI, and he didn't want to do that. Not yet. He still wanted to talk to him a whole lot more. And in any case, something else had occurred to him in that moment, which he found more pressing.

"Wait, what's 'Ending the End Class'? You've mentioned it twice now."

Asami groaned and face-palmed. She pointed at the leaflet, which had somehow fallen onto his lap.

"Did you even read that properly?" When Kei stared at her, she rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing not. Well, you can't expect all the answers to be given to you, so I'm not telling you. It's all there, so you may as well read up on it. Perhaps it'll make you feel more like you're able to leave."

"Uhh…."

"In any case," she returned to her normal speaking tone, at last. "Think about all of that, won't you? I've got other things to do, so I'll just leave you."

Asami strode out, leaving Kei reeling. After a long moment, he got up and went to close the door that had been left open, before going back to sit down. This time, he studied the leaflet more closely, and noticed the website down at the bottom, and the chalk-board style logo that headed the poster.

 _Ending the End Class….could it really be? Does that mean what I think it means? And if it does, that means that Hana is…._

He did not fully dare to hope that he had been mistaken all this time, that he hadn't ruined Hana. But it was starting to seem that things were so, and there was only one way of doing that. So carefully, he turned back to his computer and the webpage he was on, and slowly typed in the web address he was reading, before pressing 'Enter' and waiting for whatever it was that Asami thought he would find so compelling.

 _I really hope that it is what I think it is, because I'd like a chance to leave._

 **…**

"Okay, spill."

Hiro didn't knock before entering Tada's bedroom, but she instinctively knew that it didn't matter on this occasion. Tada, sitting at his desk, looked up at her, and she did a double take at just how pale and haunted he looked. She'd noticed it when they were at Yuuya and Naoya's house, she'd noticed how he seemed to be struggling to keep up and connect with things. Even as he did his best to try and enjoy the moment, even when he had passionately climbed up onto his parenting soapbox for that brief instance, she had seen it. But she didn't have the slightest inkling as to what could have caused it. _Is it my fault?_ She hoped it wasn't. Discreetly, she made sure her hearing aids were still in and turned on. Somehow, she felt like this was something that she would need to _listen_ to, whatever it was.

"Ah. I think you should get a chair, from your room or something….?"

"Nah, it's fine, I'll stand. So anyway, as I said, spill."

She noticed that Tada had their mother's 3E album out, and that for some reason, instead of looking through the photographs, he had been staring at the inside of the back cover, at the group picture that they both practically knew by heart. But also definitely the cover.

"I….just watch this. I'm not too sure as to where to begin, so…" Hiro watched, breath abated as Tada fiddled with some of the decorations on the cover, sliding his fingers underneath some parts and pulling it upwards. Hiro frowned, and was about to ask what he was doing when all of a sudden the inside cover seemed to flip open and reveal a folded accordion of paper…that held more photographs.

"It does the same in the front cover." Tada said quietly, demonstrating. "It's all pictures of Mum's class, but different ones. Very different ones."

"How different, and why are they hidden?" Hiro flicked through this new set of pictures, and it did not take long for her to discover the younger versions of familiar faces holding weapons. Weapons. There were guns and rifles, but what struck Hiro the most was the knives. Green, rubbery looking knives. _Karasuma-sensei, what did you do?_

"They're the same, aren't they? As our practise ones. They're the same. But they can't be….this has got to be some sort of joke, right?"

"It doesn't seem to be." Tada told her. "Tsuwabuki-kun found one of those knives. Not our plain ones, but one of those."

He stabbed at one of the pictures, where Rio brandished one of the green knives with white writing.

"He found it in the forest, partially buried. In a porn magazine." Tada rubbed his head and gave her a tired look. "It says 'Special Arms Against Unidentified Slimy Octopus' on it."

"What's an 'unidentified slimy octopus'? Doesn't saying it's an 'octopus' defeat the point of dubbing it as 'unidentified'?" Hiro felt her voice rising, but it felt out of her control. She didn't know what to think of all of this. What to think of her mother looking at home with….instruments of murder, pretty much. _Not to mention, what the hell is up with that big box with the screen that appeared halfway through all these images?_ But still, compelled, she kept flicking through the photographs, until she spotted a completely out-of-the ordinary image.

A yellow, tentacle-d creature sitting on a deckchair in the forest, looking as if he was marking work and munching on snacks.

"That's the octopus? Why the hell is it marking work?"

"We…have no idea. But…." Tada got up and went to where his school blazer was hanging, and pulled something out of his pocket, and came back, sitting down heavily.

"This was kept inside there, a loose photograph. They called him 'Koro-sensei'." He handed her the photograph, and she stared at the image. The computer image of the girl was there again, on a tablet held by Megu. Chiba and Hayami were in the same corner of the picture, leaning in to each other, partially to get into the picture, but also out of an easy closeness. Yada was in that portion of the picture too, brandishing a peace sign and winking. Hiro's eyes roved across the picture to locate her mother, beaming next to Maehara. And then she went to the centre of the image, where the yellow octopus thing stood with that ridiculously cheerful fixed beam, three students directly in front of him. One was Karma, but the other two….she recognised their faces, from the photos that they had known all their lives, but now she realised that she didn't know them. She had never met them, or talked to them, or anything. _Did they die too? Long before Mama? Before we were born? Is that why they were never mentioned? Have we just stumbled on some sort of secret grief?_

"Kaede Kayano-san's in jail for a murder committed thirteen years ago." Tada's finger pointed to the green cat-ear-ponytailed girl, and it stayed for a moment before he moved to the blue haired boy.

"That is Nagisa Shiota. He disappeared into mid-air after Kayano-san was sentenced. But…he might just be our ghost."

Hiro almost choked, and she met Tada's eyes in astonishment. That was somehow not what she had been expecting. _A ghost?_ The _ghost? So was this Nagisa person the one who left flowers that time, just after we'd come back from Kyoto? The one who took flowers from their class garden? The one who was apparently singing in the forest? But more importantly…._

"…a murder? Who? Someone….someone that Mama knew?"

 _Is that why I don't know about her? Because she hurt them irreparably?_

"That's…not too clear. Izzy-kun, Kuroba-kun and Hana-Chan became interested in this murder, and were convinced it was connected to whatever was 'suspicious' about Mum's class. So they did some digging, and though most of the information was classified and they couldn't break through, they found some things. "

"Which are?" Hiro felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. She felt a little bad about it, but she couldn't help it.

"The victim was a scientist, called Kotaro Yanagisawa. He was engaged when he died. He died in the most horrible way- he was basically tortured before he died. Kayano-san…Kaede-san….said that it was seventeen years overdue, when questioned. She didn't have any remorse. Though the murder was initially reported, all of a sudden there was a massive media blackout relating to it, until she was eventually sentenced to life. Nagisa had long since changed his surname back to Oishi, and he'd been an elementary school teacher before he had disappeared. And he was dating her, before she committed the murder. It's a sad story, I think, except, I don't want to weave this into a story. How can I?"

For some reason, Hiro thought of Karasuma's cat, currently curled up in the cat basket in her room. _Kaede_. _Kaede Kayano_. She looked to Tada, and he nodded, seemingly getting what she was thinking of.

"I thought something similar." He nodded. "But I don't know. Truth be told, none of this is confirmation of anything. It's just…."

"Well, it kind of confirms what Izzy was so obsessed about, that he was right to think that there was something up with Mama's class…..oh god, Tada, what did Mama do? What did Mama _do_?"

She put the photograph down, turning it over, because she wasn't sure that she could look at it. But then she noticed that there was something on the back of the photograph.

"'Thank you, Koro-sensei?'" she queried. "And is 'Ritsu' the computer screen girl?"

"I guess….."

Picking up on the lethargy in her brother's voice, Hiro studied him. Clearly, this had been what had been on his mind all day. It was understandable, none of it made sense, and it was…big. Whatever the different things meant when put together….she glanced at the back of that loose image again, the simple message and the signatures attached to it. _Mama…I can't…I don't…._

Swiftly, she turned away, and left the room, ignoring Tada's surprised splutter. She went back to her room, and located her phone, tightening her fingers around it. Then, she grabbed her own desk chair before coming back, dragging it behind her.

"We need answers." Was her explanation. She put her chair next to Tada's then sat down heavily before scrolling through the phone. She located Isogai's contact details first, and started a video call. After a few rings, it stopped. She sighed, and looked helplessly at Tada.

"What time is it in France?" she asked.

"….I have no idea." Tada replied, somewhat woodenly. Hiro let it go- she couldn't really remember either, so who was she to berate him? She then scrolled down to Maehara, and decided to try and call him.

"Oh, Hiro! Should have realised it was you." Maehara's face filled the phone screen. "What's up? No, actually, what's wrong? You look like you've been crying."

Hiro experimentally dabbed at her eyes, and realised they were indeed wet, though nothing had spilled. _Perhaps because neither of us know what we're meant to think of this!_

"What is this meant to be?" she held up the photograph so that Maehara could see it. Almost instantly, it seemed that his face leeched itself of colour, and his mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened too. _Oh no. Oh, no, no._

"Where did you find that?" Maehara was unusually panicked.

"We were looking for photographs for the museum, in the album…." Tada shakily explained. "Kuroba-kun thought there was something wrong with the covers and….well, he found the compartments."

Tada lifted the album momentarily to show this, then put it down. Maehara looked around him shiftily, as Hiro frowned.

"Why don't we know about Nagisa Shiota and Kaede Kayano?" Hiro asked. "Is it because of one being a murderer and the other going missing?"

"Amongst other things….wait, how do you know about that? You guys were only two at the time!"

"Izzy-kun's been digging." Tada explained. Maehara sighed deeply. The panic had not left him, and he didn't respond for a while, continuing to avoid their eyes.

"In any case, is Nagisa Shiota our ghost?" Tada asked. "Has he been watching us all this time?"

"How did you realise that?!"

Hiro watched Tada, wondering how he would answer.

"Yukiyama-kun did….from the album. He recognised the voice."

"How did you even get the CD? Oh god….." Maehara frowned in a variety of different ways, clearly trying to think things through.

"Will you tell us then? About what happened? About what this creature is and why you spent a year training to kill, if those images are anything to go by? And what about Karasuma-sensei…"

"No, I can't!" Maehara's snapping was unusual, and both twins reared back. Hiro bit her lip, and Tada trembled. Maehara noticed this and sighed, closing his eyes momentarily.

"I _can't_ , not now. Not about any of it. "He said eventually, only a measure more calm. "Not yet."

"Why?" Hiro wanted to know, needed to know. Maehara looked woodenly at her, and for some reason, something else occurred to her.

"Did Papa know about all this?! Did he?"

Tada gasped and stared at her. Apparently that thought hadn't crossed his mind, though she also knew it was more likely he was surprised that she had even mentioned their father in the first place, so averse she had been to even thinking of him for all this time. _But now I don't even know what's worse…what to think of either of them._

"He didn't but…." Maehara drew in a breath, let it out. "It's not something we can tell you. Not yet. But afterwards, okay? After the festival…."

He trailed off, and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. The twins exchanged a look and decided to remain silent, and they waited.

"But in any case, whatever you do, Tada, don't include what you've found in your museum, okay? Just, don't."

Abruptly, Maehara hung up the call, and the screen went dark. Hiro exited the application and turned the phone screen off.

"How would I display what I don't even know anyway?" Tada whispered, so quiet that Hiro almost did not hear him. She turned and regarded him, wondering if she now looked the same as he did, drawn and pale and lost. She certainly felt it. And Maehara had looked pretty bad himself, once they had revealed what they knew (or rather, what had been stumbled across). She wondered what was just so bad about it, even though what they had found had been rather bad in itself. _A murder….they learnt how to kill, and then one of them became a murderer, and the other one disappeared. It would be logical that there'd be a connection between the two….._

She sighed, and straightened a little. _What do I do next?_ As she pondered this, Tada- who had just been faintly shaking and numbly staring at the note and signatures on the back of that one loose photograph- suddenly blanched, and put a hand over his mouth before springing up and rushing out of the room. Instinctively, Hiro pursued him, and soon came to the bathroom, where she stopped and waited outside for him. But when no sounds of vomiting came, she peered around, and observed him kneeling by the toilet bowl, looking down at his still-shaking hand as if it didn't belong to him. His other hand was wrapped around himself. _What do we do next?_ Blinking away water from her eyes, she remained there for a while, before walking over and just sitting down on the floor of the bathroom, smoothing her nightdress over her knees. He looked up at her, but did not really react, or say anything. And she did not say anything either.

Because she was not sure what else there was to say.

* * *

 **Supplementary OCs Introduced this chapter:**

 **Yuuya Arata (Belongs to: GateBreaker)**

 **Naoya Murakami (Belongs to: GateBreaker)**

 **The photograph I was describing in the last section of this chapter is the one that shows in the video sequence for the OP song BYE BYE YESTERDAY, if anyone wanted a visual reference. But while typing this I used my memory to describe it rather than look at a screenshot...so I may have messed up a little. So yeah. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as usual, please leave feedback!**


	54. Welcome to the Museum, part 7

Hidaka decided to go straight to bed after he'd had his dinner, but after he had showered and changed into his flannel pyjamas, he did not go to sleep. Instead, he lay in bed, holding his new phone above him, contemplating it.

In the end, he had just quietly brought a new one just before the midterms, practically a clone of his old one, and just gotten on with things. He had been burningly angry, even more resentful, and he'd so badly wanted to say something about this to Hasegawa. The revelation about the mentors was wild enough, but all of what had happened seemed bigger, somehow. Whatever Hasegawa wanted in relation to what Hidaka could give, that would have been a real bombshell, a real help. But of course, he had not been allowed to write the number down as a contact, and he had not been able to save his sim card, so of course he had a new number. And there was the very distinct feeling that he should not have allowed his phone to get into Kuroba's hands, that this somewhat painted him as incompetent. So he had not tried to find another way to approach Hasegawa to explain the situation and what he had found, and he had just simmered and waited. And hoped.

But Hasegawa had not reached out to him at all. And he ended up doing badly in the mid-terms. The grades themselves were fairly average, but he did not get into the Top 50, which, had he not had Hasegawa as a ticket out, he would have been aiming for. But most of 3E did, including Aida, who promptly left upon reaching that milestone. Which meant that now, he was stuck, and found himself utterly alone. Isolated, glares thrown his way. The hellhole he'd known 3E to be all along.

 _"_ _You said that we're 'scum' just as easily as you said my eyes were pretty."_

Except, now he knew he definitely would not be able to leave, he could not help but wonder how wrong he had been in thinking that. Sure, Yukiyama had been there, and he had to encounter him every single day without just exploding about it, but that was not all that had been there. Reimiya was undeniably sweet, and had shown kindness to him despite his first-day gaffe, right up until that moment. Reno had been clearly suspicious of that fact, but tolerated him. In fact, a whole lot of them had been more than kind. Fuyumi, Jori, Koujiro, Haru, Kinomoto, Ayako, Ruko, Tsukuda, Hana. Tada. And now, most of them were….less warm. They all did their best to hide it, but so many of them jumped or flinched whenever he passed them, stiffened when he voiced something. Eriko was barely able to look at him without something resembling both horror and disgust flickering on her usually calm face, and naturally Kuroba bored holes into him, just waiting for him to trip up once more. And Reimiya was no longer as openly sweet to him. Instead, though she greeted him, she looked at him mournfully all the time.

 _It is almost as if, I created the hellhole just by thinking of it,_ Hidaka miserably mused as he unlocked the phone screen and stared at the home screen and the various application icons on it. Now his aspirations had been put out into the open for all of them to see, he realised that he probably should have listened to his doubts that day. That he should not have ignored the different feelings that he'd started to have, ones that had started with noticing Reimiya and that had eventually resulted in the various times he had enjoyed in the class. He should have paid attention, really listened to them, and perhaps things would have been so much different. But of course, he hadn't paid attention, or noticed, because he had been so busy trying to get out, convinced that all the solutions to his troubles lay in leaving the End Class.

 _"_ _Right, here you go. That's my number, and Eriko-Chan and Hanae's too. And…erm…you still have the numbers of Yuuma-san and the others."_

 _Tada smiled, somewhat awkwardly, as he handed over the scribbled details for Hidaka to put into his new phone. Hidaka blinked uncertainly, and then brushed some of his hair out of his eyes before taking the paper, then pulling out his phone._

 _"_ _I…erm…y-you're not a-angry? Or a-anything?"_

 _Tada stiffened, and looked at him askance. Then, he let out a deep breath._

 _"_ _Well, the truth is, you're still a part of the class and, well….if we cut you off now, that would just make us like the main campus. And some of this is on me. Because I decided that even though suspicions were going around, I should still trust you. Not that that necessarily absolves you but, yeah…."_

 _Tada stopped mid-sentence and shrugged helplessly. Hidaka just stared at him, because of all the things he had expected the male class rep to say and do, that had not been one of them._

That little moment had struck hard. He had never met anyone who erred so strongly on the side of faith in the way Tada seemed to. He could not help but think that if it had been him, he would strongly condemn them, consign them to a blacklist of some sort. Not keep trying to look for redemption, to try and make the best of what had happened in the nicest way possible. There was something surprisingly resilient about the way the class had continued on with working towards the 'Ending the End Class' project, despite how he had been a clear threat to them. It did not jibe with the image he'd had of them, the things he had always believed. He was not sure what to think of that.

And of course, that led up to the big, crazy adventure that the school festival was going to be. And what they had found out that day. _Those images, the words surrounding them…what did they mean?_ Even as he expressed and felt the same confusion and amazement (and fear), a little part of him had wondered what Hasegawa would have made of it, if only he could have found a way to impart the information. Not so odd, given that he had felt the exact same way in the immediate aftermath of his exposure. But what had been odd was the way that had melted away when he had seen the way the revelations had hit Tada. It was hard to explain, just how the look on his face was, but it had hit Hidaka unusually hard. Admittedly, he still could not bear the sight of Tada with Tsukuda, and had looked away when she had helped him, but the rest of the time, as his reaction and all their reactions had unfolded to the things they were seeing and could not possibly understand…. _I realised it then, didn't I? That I was playing with lives, with real people and real feelings and things. That it wasn't as if the class made them less than human or into just mere playthings or anything._ And when he realised that, he also realised that he had been so completely and utterly wrong. Completely wrong. And that the worst parts of the situation he was now in were all his fault. Not Yukiyama's or any of the other class members (though in a way, he still blamed Hasegawa, for he wouldn't have thought of doing such a thing alone). Even so, most of the blame laid solely at his own feet. Which meant that he needed to change things.

"The only thing is…." He murmured to himself as he put his phone back on his bedside table. "I don't know how…"

 _What could I even do? What would erase my…sins? Mistakes? Whatever they are, what can I do to make it okay again?_

For no particular reason, he sat up and flicked on his bedside table lamp, and studied his room. He looked at the light green painted walls, the movie posters and other random things he'd stuck up. His desk, and the different papers, books and stationary there, along with the set of drawers that, amongst other things, housed his laptop. He looked at the desk tidy and the bookshelves that he had made, along with the other little trinkets he'd carved during his time in the Woodworking Club. And then he looked at those things he'd made again, while his mind rewound back first to the progress of the museum, and then the things the class had discovered in the photo album from 30 years back, eventually recalling the appearance of the girl who had apparently grown up to become Tada's late mother. He wasn't sure why the association had been made, but he went with it.

Then, he knew what he could do to change things.

 **…**

"Did you forget we were coming?"

"Haha, very funny, Hiroto." Rio glanced down at her pyjamas and the dressing gown over them. "This is what you get when you call me only an hour in advance."

"Well, it's just us, so it doesn't really matter." Isogai laughed, opting for conciliatory, as usual. "Can we come in?"

"Ah, right, sure."

Rio stepped back and let them in, locking her door before going to the living room, where she'd been eating a takeout dinner and doing some work from home on her laptop. It occurred to her that it had been a while since she'd cooked for herself, or had anything cooked for her.

"So…." She sat down on the sofa, and then shoved some papers away. "Are you Skyping Megu into this too?"

"Yeah, but…." Isogai shrugged sheepishly. "We were hoping that we could use your laptop."

"Ah, typical." Rio rolled her eyes. "Say, won't Mari be wondering where you are and stuff?"

"I already stopped at home for dinner and a few stories." He explained. Rio half nodded as she focused on saving and closing the work she had been doing before opening up Skype and searching for Megu. Just as she was about to connect the call, she thought of something.

"Wait, I just realised something- why do you even need me to talk about Nagisa anyway? The last time I saw him was ages back, before the summer. "

"Well…" there was something in Isogai's voice that made her pause, so she looked up.

"You gave Tada the CD we made that year." Maehara butted in. Rio blinked at him, stared, and let the words filter through her mind.

 _"_ _Aunt Rio, do you want to be part of the 3E Museum?"_

 _"_ _Eh, me? No thanks." The answer was surprisingly automatic for her, yet it made perfect sense at the same time. But it didn't seem like Tada agreed._

 _"_ _Why not? You'd fit right in. "_

 _"_ _Meh." Rio shrugged. "I haven't done anything special, really. Besides, I'm guessing Yuu and Hiroto and Megu have already agreed to join, and I bet you'll be able to get Karma on-board so…yeah, you don't need the entirety of our one class."_

 _"_ _Yeah, I guess…."_

 _Rio laughed and ruffled Tada's hair._

 _"_ _Aw, come on, no need to look disappointed."_

 _"_ _I'm not…."_

 _"_ _Really now?" Rio gave him a sceptical look, and he sighed. Studying him, Rio wondered what she could do. She really didn't think it would add anything to their museum if she was one of the attractions, but at the same time, she wanted to help._

 _"_ _Ah!" Tada jumped at her sudden cry. "I've got it. Wait a moment."_

 _She rushed upstairs and straight to her cupboard, where she kept the boxes that held the physical components of the memories she'd made that year, and searched for what she had thought of. Once she had the CD, she stared at it for a moment, wondering if it was the right thing to do. But she shook such thoughts away, clamping them down so they didn't intrude anymore, and then put away the rest of the things and went back downstairs._

 _"_ _Here," she waved the CD at him. "I think this will be a more interesting addition."_

"Yes….I did…." Rio said slowly, as she looked from Isogai to Maehara and back again. She thought about the doubts she'd boxed away.

"So…?" she asked hesitantly.

"And now they've found out about us!"

"Hiroto, don't snap!" Isogai rubbed his head and closed his eyes for a moment. "That won't help."

Part of her wanted to ask what they were talking about, but it was more than obvious that they were referring to what they'd had to hide for the last thirty years. _And the last thirteen years, especially._

"How did they manage to find out about it?"

Rio jumped, not realising that Isogai had taken over her laptop and that Megu was now staring out of the screen of her laptop, sitting somewhere outside what Rio presumed to be the building in which she worked.

"Oh, hi, Megu." Rio laughed, quickly smoothing over the surprise.

"Hi." Megu nodded back.

"Hiro and Tada called me. They'd found the photographs in the album."

Everybody stared at Maehara. _What on earth is…oh. Oh shit._ Rio gasped and stared at him for confirmation, and he nodded.

"But Sugaya guaranteed that nobody could find those compartments by chance! That all anyone who didn't know to look for something would just see elaborate decoration!" Megu said. "How did these guys find it?"

"Kuroba-kun." Maehara said simply.

"Ah, that makes sense, in a way. That it would be him of all of them. He's pretty on-the-ball, very vigilant." Isogai acknowledged.

"And suspicious of stuff. " Megu pointed out. "Still, I am surprised it wasn't Izzy that found out, obsessed that he was that something was up with the class we had….which there was, but even so."

Rio picked up one of the takeout containers, and started to work through the rest of the food she had, not caring what the others thought. For some reason, she thought she would need some form of sustenance to get through the rest of this.

"It's not just that. Somehow, he, Hana and Kuroba-kun managed to discover what Kaede did and how Nagisa disappeared, and now the twins know that as well. Including the strong, strong possibility that he's been watching over them. Oh god…."

Maehara lowered his head for a moment, shaking it as he thought of something.

"This is tricky. " Isogai thought deeply. "If they've gotten into the album, they've seen everything, from Koro-sensei to Ritsu to...well, like I said, everything. And now they want answers. I'm guessing they do. Say, Hiroto, how were the twins when they asked you about what they'd found?"

"Agh, fuck….I think I messed up, that's for sure."

"That doesn't tell us anything, Hiroto." Megu pointed out.

"Well, long version short, they're both confused and taking it badly, and are probably scared too, which wasn't helped by me snapping at them, though I somehow smoothed it over by saying I would tell them all afterwards…after the school festival, that is. Though I told Tada he could not put any of that stuff in their museum under any circumstances. At all. Like I said, I fucked up."

Maehara straightened up as he said this, but his voice seemed to become more strained and hysterical as he reached the end of his little explanation.

"I don't think you need to be so hard on yourself. This whole issue sort of came out of the blue, after all….you didn't mean to get like that with them."

"Regardless, I still _did_ that to them, Yuuma!" Maehara groaned. "I still….Hiro looked like she had been crying, and Tada looked like someone had leeched the colour from him. And that's just with the things that, to a clueless person, would just give more questions than answers. Where does that leave us, the ones who are meant to be helping, exactly?"

They were all silent at that, all wondering what to say or do next.

"Perhaps….perhaps we were wrong back then. To have the children just forget the two of them…." Isogai sighed eventually.

"No, I don't think so." Megu disagreed. "I mean, what effect would have that had on the likes of Maya and Kaito and the others born after them, who wouldn't even have known Nagisa and Kaede before? That's not their burden to bear. "

 _"…_ _Rio-san? Did I wake you?"_

 _For a brief moment, as she blinked rapidly to get the sleep out of her head, Rio considered a sarcastic response to that. But two things stopped her. First, the trace of panic she could hear in his voice. Second, and most important, that it was_ him _, and he never called her this late. Or early, depending on perspective._

 _"_ _That doesn't matter. What's wrong?"_

 _"_ _I…" There was an odd silence on the line, punctuated by a drawing in of a shaky breath. Rio waited for a moment, but when he didn't say anything, she started to become scared._

 _"_ _Nagisa?"_

 _"_ _I need a lawyer, Rio-san. It's Kaede….she…she…."_

"Yeah, I suppose….but at least then….then we wouldn't have had to have hidden everything. We're hiding too much already despite the fact that well….we can't get away from that year, from what Koro-sensei taught us, can we?"

"That we most certainly can't." Maehara nodded.

"But we agreed at the time, after he went missing the first time, that it would be easier. They were all so young back then anyway, it was the-"Megu broke off to look up at someone who was standing behind her. On the screen, all that could be seen was a tweed skirt and a white blouse. The person asked something in French, and Megu replied rapidly before the other person disappeared out of view and Megu turned back to them.

"Anyway, it was for the best, I think, at the time. Of course, that's easy for me to say, since most of the furore didn't really reach here apart from some parents at the Japanese school chatting about it while we waited for our children….but I digress. It was easier for me, I could protect Sora pretty easily but….it's all tangled with everything else. There wasn't any way to deal with that. There still isn't."

"Yeah, I know. " Isogai agreed. "I thought the exact same at the time. Especially with Ikuko, she idolised Nagisa….but now the twins have phoned Hiroto to say that they know something, I'm looking back and thinking that I'm not entirely sure that she actually forgot him. I'm fairly sure Hoshiko and Satoko did, but Ikuko was a little older, so it's hard to say. Not that she said anything, but if the children somehow picked up on the topic being off limits at the time, then she wouldn't have, would she?"

"Yuu…." Rio didn't know what to say to that. No idea at all. She remembered agreeing with them about this, when they'd all gathered. She remembered Hinano frowning, asking about what would happen if he did come back, because they'd all assumed that despite his disappearance, he would come back properly at some point. And she remembered at the time, how they had all eventually that once he had come back and was better again, they'd re-introduce him to the children, and start afresh. _How stupid. How stupid we all were. And still are._

"Yuuma…." Megu's face creased in pain. "We're not bad people for this. None of us are. "

"It might be out of our hands anyway." Maehara, who had been staring at the floor. Rio, who had been about to take another mouthful of her takeout food, stopped and looked at him.

"What do you mean, Hiroto?" Both Megu and Isogai asked this at the same time, and then almost instantly laughed, having gotten used to this happening years ago. At first, this had prompted most of them (especially herself and Karma) to tease them about their potential as a couple. These days, Rio's line of teasing ran in the direction of 'twins in another life'. Maehara also tended to join in when such things happened, and so it was reassuring to see him look up and smile as they laughed. But soon enough, it died down and they were brought back to the realities of the situation as it stood.

"I told Tada and Hiro that I would tell them afterwards. I kept saying I couldn't tell them _yet,_ that I couldn't give them any answers _now_ ….I didn't know what else to say!" he held up his hands to ward off imaginary confrontation, but when none of them moved to berate him, he put them down, and took a moment before continuing.

"Besides, there's Nagisa's existence to think about as well, in terms of secrets. His own actions are sort of taking that out of our hands…."

"What, you mean how he's been hanging in the forest by our campus most of this time?" Rio asked.

"Well, yes, but also how earlier in the year he took and replaced some of Kinomoto-kun's flowers. And left that note, presumably for Tsuwabuki-kun. He'd been around long enough to know that Tsuwabuki was considering finding different flower meanings from different versions of _hanakotoba_." Isogai said. "Not to mention Kiyono-Chan."

"Kiyono?" Rio didn't understand what that odd little girl had to do with anything.

"You didn't know? During the summer festival, Nagisa apparently showed up and came out of the dark long enough to help her catch a goldfish, which she is now very attached to. She calls it Aoi, because of the 'Mister Blue Person' who helped her catch it. "Maehara explained.

"Ehhh….really?" Knowing him as she did (or hoped she did), Rio thought that it made a certain sort of sense, him risking the anonymity he was hiding to help a little kid, and to get a chance to see one of the children he didn't get to meet, one of their second generation who didn't even know of him.

"I didn't realise that he was still so close….I mean, I had a feeling he'd go back to the forest, once he'd left here, but…."

"You seriously had no idea?"

"What, you think I should be able to pre-empt his thoughts and actions because I slept with him once?!"

The words ripped themselves from Rio's throat with surprising anger, making them all recoil, even Megu as she sat on a bench outside her workplace, observing them through Skype. Rio blushed almost immediately afterwards, wishing she hadn't said anything, wishing she could take it back. _Nagisa…._ Subconsciously, she let her fingers trace the shape of her jawline, as if remembering the same path his own fingers had taken on that night they both wanted to simultaneously remember and forget. But one that despite everything that it had made her feel, she didn't regret.

"He had a ring on this chain he wears around his neck. It has all sorts of crap, like a spare of my house key. But there was an engagement ring there too."

"And this just keeps getting worse…." Isogai sighed. "Sadder." He added before Rio could tear into him for that. With a silent groan, she leaned back on the sofa, trying to relax her muscles in a studied portrait of relaxation.

"If we get back to the bare bones of this…." Megu cleared her throat, making them all look at the laptop. "Kiyono clearly got a good look at him, to be able to describe him the way she did. Do you know if anyone else managed to notice him during the festival?"

Maehara shook his head.

"No. She was eager to talk about it once Hitomu, Ayumu and the others had come back for her and she had the fish, but they sort of just took it in their stride and didn't think anything strange of it-I mean, why would they? And so they didn't ask her to point him out or anything. But then when Taisei helped her transfer the fish to a bowl and taught her how to feed it and all, and then she named it, and he asked her why she was calling it what she was calling it….well, if 'Mister Blue Person', 'clever', 'good at slicing fishies', 'sort of girly but I think he was a man' and 'really really nice' aren't all suitable examples of descriptors of Nagisa, then…."

"Yeah, that sort of settles it. " Rio shrugged.

"That, and the CD you decided to give Tada." Megu pointed out, making her flare up again.

"Is that really such a bad thing?!"

"But they don't know about two of the members of our 3E Uta-tan, as we decided to call them. _Two_. Didn't you think that would have raised some questions, even if then one of the children hadn't recognised Nagisa's voice from that one time he apparently decided to sing aloud?"

"Megu has a point, Rio-san." Isogai tried to soothe. "That wasn't the best thought-out plan."

The worst thing about that was that Rio had no real comeback, because that was utterly true. She balled her hands into fists.

 _You're beating yourself up." She stated simply. This seemed to stop him unawares, and so he remained where he was, just watching her. She sighed as she noted how much of a shadow he was, and she wondered how long things would remain this way._

 _"_ _You're still blaming yourself. For everything." She ripped into him, suddenly frustrated beyond measure. "When will that stop?"_

 _"_ _I…Rio-san…."_

 _The despair his voice injected into her was not enough to override everything else she was feeling. Instead, it just got added to all of that_

 _"_ _When?" she asked again, fuelled by this turmoil. "It's been thirteen years! Why aren't you angry with that blockhead for taking advantage of you? Why aren't you angry at the system? At the events that made her snap in the first place? And me? Aren't you angry at me? I was the one you asked to defend her in court…and then….and then….."_

"Yeah, well, perhaps I want things to _stop_! To be _over_! How _long_ can we all live like this, let alone _Nagisa_?! Isn't it time for something to _change_?! Do you like being in this paralysis or something?! It's not right. You might think we're going along fine, just being like this, but that's not the case anymore. It's like what happened after Kaede revealed herself and Koro-sensei revealed himself! _Something needs to change_!"

When the last of her words landed, all that was left was an odd, hollow silence. Isogai and Maehara exchanged looks, and Megu didn't offer anything. Ashamed, Rio lowered her gaze. She thought of the battle they'd had after that time she had mentioned. How she had been the first one to say that actually, even with knowing what they had just learnt about their strange teacher, they should continue to try and kill him, not save him. She wasn't sure of the parallel she was trying to draw, what her mind was trying to tell her, but even so, she thought of it.

"Is that why you gave it, then?" Isogai asked softly. _Why is this about me?!_ Rio wanted to ask that, but didn't want to either, so she just nodded, looking down at her lap.

"Well, for all I'm boasting about things being easier for me far away, I can't really say anything, because I wrote letters."

"Letters?" Rio's head shot up at this, and she fixed Megu with a surprised look. On the screen, she laughed somewhat bitterly.

"Sure. They're lodged with my solicitor, under strict orders to not give them to Sora, or to read them at all, until I've died. But I've written everything about everything in there. I figure that though we can't say anything ourselves, for all our sakes, that once I've died, it won't matter. Because by then, everyone who ever really knew what had unfolded would be long gone, or at least…"

Megu trailed off at this, not wanting to complete the sentence, but they all knew what she would have said. _Hinano…_

"In any case," Megu shook her head suddenly. "It's not really like we can berate you. I think, for different reasons and in different ways, we all feel the same. All of us."

"Yeah, sure." Some colour was returning to Maehara. "That's why, with the three of us, I told Tada it was okay for him to put stuff about our mentoring."

"Still, it's fairly easy to explain that without getting into the stickier territory." Isogai pointed out. "Even so, I get it. But putting all that aside…what do we do. If Hiroto's said 'after the festival', then that gives us some time, but not much. Because we can't got back on that."

"I guess we can't…sorry about that, by the way." Maehara rubbed his head. "I didn't mean to say that…..and Rio, I didn't mean to get at you. "

"Eh, no big deal." Rio flapped her hand dismissively. Maehara grinned winningly, and pointed at her takeaway.

"Can I have some?" he asked, a little randomly. Rio pursed her lips, pretending to think about it, and then grinned back, and indicated that he could, and found herself having to stifle a laugh as he grabbed the container and dug in.

"I wish we could ask Karasuma-sensei about this." Isogai mused. "I mean, he's the one who helped us in the first place, navigating back to normal life after Koro-sensei died and making sure we weren't too harassed by the government and stuff, making sure that Nagisa would still be safe….even after he retired and all…"

"I hear that." Maehara said between mouthfuls.

"Why don't we try asking Ritsu?" Megu suggested.

They all considered this, and then Isogai got out his phone, and started tapping away, executing the different commands that they'd all memorised 23 years back so that they could interact with Ritsu. _Thank god for Itona._

"Oh, Isogai-kun!" Ritsu's image appeared on screen, showing her in what looked like a desk in a bedroom. She looked up from a book of some sorts as she scanned the surroundings. "And Maehara-kun and Nakamura-san too! It's good to see you!"

"Megu's here as well." Isogai said, turning the phone around so that Ritsu could see the laptop.

"Kataoka-san! It's nice to see you!" A second passed, and then Ritsu started to speak in French, and Megu happily replied. Rio could more or less follow the conversation, but she'd neglected the language a while back, so she didn't get the nuances. In any case, it did not take long for them to finish and switch back to Japanese, so it didn't matter.

"How have you all been?" Ritsu asked them. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well, we did need some advice about something…" Isogai started and then hesitated.

"What is it, Isogai-kun?" The image of Ritsu's face flickered slightly, as if trying to portray concern. Of course, given how advanced she had become over the years, it was more likely that she was actually concerned.

"The children of the current 3E have managed to find out some things about what we did in our own 3E, and we're thinking about telling them the truth. Do you think we should?"

"Well, legally, you have signed paperwork saying that you would not tell anybody about anything that happened. Indeed, that is why you have been so careful with my software and how you use it. And of course, it is hard to know what the sanctions could be if you said anything, so I would probably say no.

"But-"Ritsu seemed to register something on their faces, and so she lifted up a finger as if to stop them from interrupting. "There are more factors than that that are in play. The most obvious being that all of this was a generation ago, and is essentially over. Then, from all that I've been analysing from the Kunugigaoka records and from what I have seen on the internet, it seems like Tadaomi-kun's class are a lot like our class were, though naturally not in the same way. And though I didn't think this was something I'd get to feel, I am almost envious that you have this second generation to nurture and watch over, and I also know that what you learnt in our assassination classroom are things you've carried over to bring up those children quite wonderfully- and Koro-sensei would have wanted that. The way I am today might have been helped by Itona-kun, but it started with Koro-sensei. Besides, if they have some of the story already, in a sense, it is far too late to backtrack and make them forget. So once all of that is factored in properly, I would say that yes, you should. It would be the most responsible thing to do. But of course, when Karasuma-sensei wakes up, ask him again. I am sure he will be better placed to answer this question than I."

"…do you really think that Karasuma-sensei will wake up though?" Maehara asked.

Ritsu nodded, her pink hair swishing around as she did so.

"His prognosis is good, Maehara-kun. He will wake up, but when he is ready to do so. Unfortunately, I cannot predict when that will be, but I know for sure that it will be."

"If you say it's so, then I guess it's true." Rio sighed. "Thanks, Ritsu."

"Not a problem, Nakamura-san." Ritsu turned back to her book and held it up. "Now, Isogai-kun, I was thinking of scanning your phone for any viruses or bugs, if that's fine with you, as it has been a while since the last time. But, before that, may I ask you a question?"

"That's fine on both counts. Go for it." Isogai replied.

"When and if you have told Tadaomi-kun, his class and the rest of your children the full truth, would I be allowed to meet them properly?"

"Of course! Megu?" Isogai turned the phone to the laptop.

"Yes, I think that would be fine."

"Brilliant! Well now, I will leave you all be, and hopefully you will be fine."

Ritsu, her 'room' and all, winked off Isogai's phone screen, re-revealing his home screen. Isogai locked the screen, and then tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"So, what do we all think? Rio-san, I think you were pretty invested on saying things anyway."

"Too right I was."

"What about you, Hiroto?"

"Ahh….." Maehara's face scrunched up for a moment, and then relaxed as he grinned. "I did panic initially because we've been so used to saying nothing all this time. But if I'm being honest, I'd love to tell the kids about some of the crazy crap we got up to. What we achieved."

"I agree too. But I think we should wait for once the festival is over, or when Karasuma-sensei wakes up. Whichever comes first. Mostly to give us time to prepare, but also because Tada-kun has the festival to think about already." Megu put in.

"Yeah….I hope I didn't hurt the twins too much….I'll apologise soon, I have to."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Isogai said to Maehara, who nodded soberly.

"Anyhow," Isogai continued. "I'm completely for confessing all of this too. Not just for the children, but because it'll mean I can finally say something to Mari."

"Ah, there's a point. " Megu nodded, but before she could say something else, a shrill voice blasted through the laptop speakers, addressing Megu in French. Whoever it was out of the shot for Rio, Isogai and Maehara. Megu winced a little at the voice, then smiled wearily at them.

"I should go now. I'll speak later."

"Bye!" they chorused before Megu went offline. Rio exited Skype, then after some thought, made sure all her work was saved and then shut down the laptop. She did not think there would be any point in doing any other work tonight. _It can all wait anyway._

Isogai and Maehara stayed a little while, long enough for the latter to finish her food. On a normal day, she would have yelled at him jokingly, or at least threatened some mock-revenge, but this time she let it go. She figured she could use it against him later, but right at that moment she just was not bothered. Once they left though, she went to the fridge, and considered the contents. For one oddly disorienting moment, she thought about going out to grab a beer, or even some fancy bottle of wine, but she pulled herself together fairly quickly. She hadn't touched alcohol for seven years now, so she didn't see the point in starting again now. In the end, she grabbed a chocolate bar, and then went back to the living room to put all the rest of her work away, before going up to her bedroom.

Setting the laptop on her desk, back where it belonged, she then crossed her room to her wardrobe, and flung the doors open, before kneeling down and rummaging to find the small safe. On autopilot, she punched in the code, and then carefully opened that door and extracted the box from all the other things she owned that were necessary to keep in a safe.

She sat cross-legged on her carpet, and put the box on her lap, carefully flipping open the lid. Twenty-eight 100 yen coins blinked up at her. _I bet that from ten years from now, we are all going to be happy._ That's what she had said back then, thirty years ago. _We will all be happy._ Those ten years had come and gone, and now they were here. She was here, handling these coins she would never, ever spend, even though that time had long gone, wondering if maybe now her conviction wasn't so true anymore, if the bet had been lost and they were all wrong because of everything that had happened afterwards. _But it did happen. We were happy. We were fine, we were golden._ As she held her chocolate bar in one hand and felt each of the coins in the other, she thought about this, letting the memories of their escapades and tears and joys run through her head. And she wondered if in the end, sitting there in that moment, if she had ultimately been right or wrong.

But more than that, she could not help but wonder: _If I had said 'thirty years from now' or 'fifty years from now' instead, would have that been enough to protect us all?_

* * *

 **The thing about the coins is another thing I pinched (with permission) from Colorslander's 'War on Boredom'. It just seemed to jibe perfectly with the feelings and attitudes Rio holds here. So yeah.**

 **And a clarification about Ritsu and Itona. In this universe, Ritsu would have been 'taken back' by her creators after the assassination classroom had finished, but Itona secretly plans that he will buy her back- which he does, once he has taken over his family business and made it insanely successful. Then, though he keeps Ritsu's main hardware with him in a part of the business only he has access to, he has installed Ritsu onto everybody's phones in such a way that though they can 'call her up' to talk, she's basically just like a secret background app. And when she isn't talking to someone, she is basically the phone's magic maintenance worker, keeping their phone software in much better condition than it would be without her, and stuff like that. Not sure how that works, as I have no clue about technology, but yeah. This is what I imagine has happened. And also, this explains why Itona can hang around Matsuraiken for most of the afternoon-he's self employed, and crazy rich- he can do whatever the hell he wants, basically. Which is pretty much just tinker around with machines and annoy Muramatsu. But yeah.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you'll like the next one too! :)**


	55. Welcome to the Museum, part 8

**This chapter's alternate title is 'The Things We Have In Common'.**

* * *

Though it didn't really make a difference either way, Akira had recently started coming into school earlier, around the time that Haru and Kinomoto (and occasionally Tsuwabuki and Hirigi) did, to concentrate on writing the descriptions of each person who was an attraction to the museum. Admittedly, it took time away from the collected writings that she was hoping to turn into a book, but she didn't mind that. It had been lagging in any case, so perhaps the time she took away would help deal with that. So, that morning, once she had arrived, after navigating the small talk with Kinomoto and Haru (and accepting a small bunch of pretty flowers whose name she embarrassingly forgot the moment she received them), she went straight inside and to her seat at the large group table.

It had been odd for her to spend her lessons sitting with everyone around a big table, rather than at her desk, which offered her preferable solitude. But she had found her space there, and she found herself liking it. Not overly, but she liked it. _Perhaps, this way of learning could be rolled out on a bigger scale if we win,_ she mused as she took out the things she needed and sat down. She set down the copies of the information that Fuyumi had done for her, so she was able to write the descriptions, and then sorted out her own work into piles- those that she still needed to finish, and those that she had done but that needed the accompanying English translations that Jori had suggested they do. Akira was well placed to do those herself, but it was Kitabayashi who had been taking that responsibility, not least because the process would probably help him. That, and since she would also be taking charge of writing the descriptions on their menus (not to mention how she was doing some of cooking of the food items on said menu), it was nice to have the help. _Actually, all of this is nice, generally. Who'd think I'd make so many connections?_

Tada arrived as she finished the description for Aoyama and put that in the pile for Kitabayashi to translate.

"Good morning, Akira-Chan!"

"Hello." As usual, she had to battle to keep her cheeks from going red. It was incredibly annoying, all things considered. _Even though I never had a chance of winning in the first place._ Of course she hadn't. Not just because she didn't know how to express her own feelings aloud (even as, on paper, she got under the skins of so many people with ease), but because it was patiently obvious that nobody would have even had the slimmest of chances, not with Tsukuda around. The connection she had with Tada seemed quite literally to be the instant, intense, inevitable type that Akira had only ever seen in books. The type most could only dream of.

"So…did you hear back from anyone?" she asked, steering her mind away with some effort. She looked down at the next two descriptions she needed to finish. She tapped her pen against the table for a minute, then put it down.

"Hear back?" Tada tipped his head at her.

"Surely you must have asked someone about….what was in the album yesterday."

"Oh, right. Well….that….didn't go too great, as such…." Tada laughed, the sound seeming to catch in his throat as he looked away for a moment. Akira lowered her eyes, not wanting to embarrass him. _What sort of payment would that be, for the kindnesses he always shows me?_ There was a silence between them, punctuated only by the sounds of their surroundings, and the noises others made coming in.

"It was to be expected though, right?" Tada spoke again suddenly. Akira looked up, surprised and not knowing what to say. Tada didn't seem to notice, and continued.

"Hiroto-san promised us he'd explain after the festival….so I guess that's something. "

"It'll end up quite the story then, given the anticipation."

"Yeah, I suppose. Do you think it's the type of story that you'd write, Akira-Chan?"

"….I don't know what the story is, so I don't know!" Akira spluttered, a little taken aback. In truth, what she wanted to say was: _It's your family history, not mine. I should be asking you!_ To hide her embarrassment, she picked up her pen again, and looked around her. She noticed Yukiyama and Hidaka arrive in the exact same moment, though clearly not together. Definitely not together, because she'd seen Hidaka glare at Yukiyama enough times to know there was no love lost between them. And seeing firstly how Hidaka blushed and messed up his words more than usual whenever he caught sight of Hiro, and then afterwards how her cold reaction to him seemed to devastate her, it didn't take a genius to work out why this was the case. It made Akira wonder if Hidaka was aware this meant that they had something in common. Not that she would enlighten him. Why should she, after all?

"Okay, okay, I get it." It took Akira a moment to realise that Tada was laughing. Somewhat hollowly, and a little shaky too. But laughing, and it made her smile on the inside too.

"I'd hope so."

"So anyway, how are the descriptions coming along?" Tada changed the subject. Akira went along with it.

"I'm about to finish Uchida-san's and Okazaki-san's now, and Kitabayashi-san has a pile to translate." She pointed, and Tada grinned at the pile.

"Alright then, I'll leave you to it."

Akira nodded stoically, and put her pen to paper again as Tada crossed the classroom to chat to Ayako. She worked solidly for the next few moments, not looking up at all, and only half-listening to what was going on around her. She looked up for a moment when Tsukuda came in, and Tada went to her, and though she blushed and rapidly looked back down again, she didn't feel any jealousy, only a sad sort of wistfulness that she hadn't been the lucky one. But even that, she was fine with, because Tada and Tsukuda had that intense, instant and inevitable connection, one that would last a lifetime, and it was just so perfectly right when it came to the two of them specifically that she enjoyed seeing it. _And they need each other, that's clear to see. I can't begrudge that. But perhaps maybe one day I'll write the story of their relationship instead. After all, they're right there in front of me, every day, perfect writing material._

"Akira…..-san?"

Kitabayashi stood next to the table, next to her, staring down at her uncertainly, a puzzle book in his hand. She smiled, calm and happy, even as a corner of her mind mused and reminisced about both her own unrequited love and how writers over the eras had written about the same sort of feelings, while a part of her thought of the coming weeks and what she'd have to do and how she was looking forward to it.

"Good morning, Kitabayashi-san. Here, sit." she gestured to the seat next to her. He did so, and then put his puzzle book away, before rootling around for his pencils, pens and a Japanese-English dictionary that Kuroba had unexpectedly presented Kitabayashi with one day, and setting those on the desk.

"Hmm, morning." Kitabayashi frowned for a moment. "Is there anything for me to do?"

Akira simply pointed at the pile she'd put aside. Kitabayashi's eyes lit up before he could do anything about it, and a smile stole across his face for a moment before he covered his mouth and turned his face away for a moment. Akira smiled again, recognising herself in some of those actions.

"If you need any help, just tell me." She stated simply. Kitabayashi looked askance at her, and then grabbed the pile, and picked up his pen, studying the first description on the pile, before setting pen to paper. Once he was absorbed in his task, Akira went back to hers, and decided not for the first time that she really, really, _really_ liked being a part of this class.

 **…**

Naturally, as soon as she could, Ayako asked Tada if he had found out anything from Isogai, Maehara or Megu in relation to what had been discovered in the album, because of course, it was incredibly interesting, if utterly inexplicable. Who would have imagined that a former 3E member would have been hiding something like _that_? Her background had no bizarre or interesting things such as an allegedly 'unidentified slimy octopus' contained within it, and so she was almost envious. And admittedly disappointed when Tada said he didn't know any more. She really, really, really wanted to find out about it all, to know more, record it all for prosperity. It seemed like a story that _needed_ to be told. But…

…the night before, before she had gone to bed, she had dug out her notebook to update all the information she had about her classmates. Not just the issue with the photo album and CD, but some other titbits she had gathered and not had a chance to note recently, including more titbits about Tada and Tsukuda (which she'd had to mostly infer as they wouldn't say anything, but even so), and how she'd recently discovered that Akira secretly liked bunnies. Usually, she just breezed through updating her 'Class 3E files' without a problem, feeling ever more gleeful with each new thing she wrote. This time round, however, she found herself avoiding the main discovery, and spending as long as possible writing up the other things, such as the potential shippings,secret interests and previously undiscovered skills. But of course, eventually, she had worn out all the other options, and she was just left with that one. By far, the most interesting one. Yet no matter how hard she had pressed her pen to the page, she could not force herself to write the first words to explain this.

And now, as Tada moved away to approach Tsukuda, Ayako decided to try again, and took out her notebook, flipping it to Tada's page, for of course, it made the most sense that the information would go there. But once again, the moment she put pen to paper, something froze, and she couldn't proceed any further. She hadn't a clue what to write. Wracking her brain for a moment, she lifted the pen, then put it down, and tried again, only to fail once again, and then recalled the pale drawn look of utter devastation that Tada'd had about him when Kuroba had 'sliced' the album open and revealed what was hidden in the cover. He didn't seem to have regained much colour between now and then, and so in that moment, she decided to give up. She closed her 'Class 3E files' and put them away, and decided to text Ruko to see where she was at.

And all the while, she tried to calm the churning in her stomach by telling herself that the only reason she wasn't writing the information was simply because she did not actually know what it all meant.

 **…**

Ueno frowned at the notes he'd scribbled while eating his lunch, then looked across the table at Akaike.

"Remind me what the point of all this is again? "He asked her. It was a rhetorical question, and she responded to it by rolling her eyes and leaning back.

"Argh, gosh, I know, right? As if we haven't got enough to do in preparation for the festival anyway! Why on earth do we need to 'strictly regulate' the comings and goings of everyone during the festival anyway? It's the blimming festival, everyone is every _where_."

"Precisely. And the only thing I can get out of this is that it'll just add time to something that should be simple. Still, if it's in the rules, it's in the rules, so what can we do?"

All of the class representatives for the classes in the main campus had been called for an 'emergency' main campus meeting, where Hasegawa had confusingly decreed that if someone needed to leave the building for something or other during the festival, then they would need to go through stringent checks to make sure that they were not just abandoning the efforts of whatever class or club they were part of, and that each class's representatives would be responsible for making sure that their classes were regulated in this manner, adopting whatever method they thought best. It was made quietly clear that failure to adhere to this would have grave consequences. Ueno did not think the consequences could be that grave for him particularly, given that he was going elsewhere for high school, but even so, he did not want to risk it beyond a certain limit.

"Perhaps if we estimate the times it should take for…..well, the different reasons someone would leave?" Ueno wondered. Akaike snorted inelegantly at this.

"Right, like that's really going to be so helpful. Like I said, this is the blimming festival. I wonder why they just didn't come up with a template or outline and just say 'here, follow this'? Or at least explain why the hell we're suddenly being so strict about people leaving when nobody really cared before? I mean, how many times has someone needed to escort a lost child to the waiting point or the nurse offices, or had to go to the shops to get some more milk for the tea or something like that? Bloody hell!"

As if to punctuate her annoyance, she stuffed a large amount of curried rice into her mouth and proceeded to munch through it solidly.

"Yeah…." Ueno mused. "I wonder what prompted that."

In truth, he had a feeling. Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko had been conspicuously absent. He had asked why, and had just been told it was an issue specifically relating to the main campus as a location, and therefore wasn't relevant. But there had been something of a cold and steely glint in Hasegawa's eye as he said this, and Otsuka had an additional aura of triumph about her. That, and right now, tucked carefully in his blazer pocket with no risk of falling out was one of the little hand out posters that advertised the 3E Museum. So, he had a feeling. But he could not be sure at all. _Because I do not really want to believe it._

"Obviously, it's because they don't want us visiting the attraction 3E has on."

Asami's voice startled them both, and Ueno wondered what she was doing there until he noticed she was carrying an empty tray, and then he remembered that the table he was sharing with Akaike -and some first years who were not paying any attention to them at all as they giggled over something -was right next to where the empty trays were stashed.

"Obvious? What's obvious about that?" Akaike swallowed and chortled at this. "Why would anyone do that anyway? Regardless of the quality of their attraction, it's so inconvenient getting there, you'd be mad to sacrifice time to do so!"

"Yeah, well, I reckon that it's because-" the first years moving away created a flurry that muffled Asami for a moment, and so when it cleared she said "…well, 3E are pretty heavy-hitting with the advertising, so it wouldn't be surprising if some of the others here had found out about it and were interested. "

 _Of course. That makes sense. So I really was right. Somehow, that disappoints me. Why did I ever have faith in this school?_

"Still." Akaike rolled her eyes. "All things considered, dramatic, much?"

Ueno wondered how on earth Akaike had not noticed that during the brief flurry, the words that Asami had said were 'Hasegawa is a desperate sore loser. That, and…' because _he_ had certainly noticed, and found himself surprised. _She knows too, right? About Ending the End Class. She has to, because her twin is part of that._

"It's a waste of time. Unfortunately, there isn't a way around it." Asami shrugged heavily, as if to ask them both 'what can you do?' That seemed to be all that would happen, but as Akaike just shrugged and went back to demolishing her lunch, Asami caught Ueno's eyes, and narrowed her gaze, taking him unawares. _What?_ Before he could open his mouth to ask just that, she had broken her stare, and now walked away, back to the girls she normally spent her time with. Ueno blinked as he watched her, wondering what that was, but also feeling that something was about to happen. Hiro, amongst the group of girls, noticed him staring, but rather than react surprised, she simply lifted her hand to wave at him. He nodded back, and she turned away as their group left the canteen. _Is something going to happen? Is it?_

A few moments passed, and everything seemed normal, so Ueno turned back to eat the rest of his own lunch and try and make sense of what he had written so that they could at least be seen to be following the rules, when his phone vibrated.

Expecting it to be Ruko sending him some random meme or anecdote, or even a homework question, a smile started to work its way onto his lips and he found himself already composing the response in his mind. But he mentally stopped in his tracks when he saw that actually, the message was from Hiro. But he was more surprised to see that Asami's name was typed at the end of the message alongside hers, and definitely floored by what it said. And this, he knew, was the 'something' he had anticipated just moments ago.

 _'_ _Meet us around the back after school today. We need to do something about this-Chihiro Kitakawa and Asami Aoshima'_

 **…**

Asami crossed her arms and carefully surveyed the small group she had managed to gather. Hiro stood next to her, and Ueno was on her other side. Eka Udemae, also from class 3B, stood on the other side of Ueno, and then Aida from 3D stood next to Hiro. The final person, completing the little circle, was somebody that Asami had never talked to before (she wasn't even sure how he'd managed to join them in the first place), a boy from 3C who introduced himself to her as Munakata.

"So….what did you two gather us around for?" Aida broke the awkward silence. "Well, I mean, I sort of know….but at the same time, I'm clueless."

"Well, you must have heard about the new festival rule, right?" Hiro asked. "About what needs to be done regarding leaving during the festival."

"Because of how it's really just to prevent us from visiting 3E." Ueno put in, sliding a sideways glance at Asami, who nodded.

"Exactly. I mean, I think all of us here know that that's the real reason, no matter what reasons were spouted-and yes, I'm including myself in that. And I'd agree that it's pretty unfair, all things considering."

Asami stopped at this point, and looked around her to make sure Hasegawa, Otsuka or any of the others weren't nearby, before continuing.

"So, I'm thinking that to even things out….we should probably form a counter attack, as it were. To support 3E instead."

She uncrossed her arms, and let them fall to her sides, somehow feeling that she'd be facing them more forwardly this way, and waited. _Will this work….?_

"I'd like to be able to help Fuyumi-san and Jo-san…." Eka ventured eventually "But I wouldn't want to get into trouble or anything…."

"And, to be fair, it's not like they're not succeeding at all. " Aida tipped her head. "So what's the issue?"

"Ah, that's a point, I suppose." Munakata spoke up.

"But that isn't the point!" Hiro challenged fiercely. "Not of the rule, or of the festival itself!"

"No, I don't think so. It's just sabotage, I think, and that's hardly fair play. 3A always try to put on the biggest attractions going in the middle school, and you don't see anyone thinking that their visitors should be limited for various pseudo-reasons." Ueno reasoned.

"And like Chihiro-Chan said, that isn't how festivals work. Sure, you shouldn't just skip out on the class effort, and everyone should be doing their best within whatever they're doing, whether it's with their class or their club or whatever. Sabotaging someone else's hard work is not part of that ethos, or at least, it shouldn't be. I mean, for one thing, that's a whole waste of effort….and well, it's just wrong."

Asami thought of the school choir as she said all of this. This time last year, Hana had been practising with them for the school festival performance. This year, she was the mastermind behind a museum. If last year, she had been asked one which one was clearly better, she would not have even considered the museum as a possibility. But now, she was different, because strength and weaknesses had different forms, she knew that now.

"So….is this a counter-attack, or something?" Eka frowned. Asami grinned at that.

"Exactly! That's exactly what this is!" she said. "The Virtuosos are all plotting to try and bring them down, so we need to do the opposite."

 _See how you like this, when your plans fail and you don't even know why. This is what you get, all of you._

"Then the end result will hopefully be in the middle." Ueno ventured. Munakata and Hiro nodded at this, but Aida regarded them sceptically.

"Overreacting, much?" she said. Before any of them could speak up, she held out a hand. "Wait, don't jump down my throats. I spent half a term in that class, remember? They're pretty decent, all things considered. And they're working pretty hard. With the whole Ending the End Class project, they're pulling no punches. "

"I can attest to that." Hiro remarked, exchanging a knowing look with Asami. She winked back. _Even if we did go over a few road bumps, it's nice to think we're somehow kindred, being the A-Class twin sisters of 3E members and all that._

"So, anyway." Aida continued. "I'm just saying, won't it be patronising, to assume that the rule is enough to take them down?"

"That, and as Udemae-kun brought up earlier, we don't want to get into trouble over this, either. Because, as wrong and as pointless as this is, we need to think about ourselves too." Ueno nodded.

"…yeah." Eka nodded vigorously, causing the bun her hair was tied into to become dislodged.

Asami could understand what they both meant, but she found herself wanting to scream at their utter stupidity, but she didn't want to antagonise any of these people, who were meant to be her allies.

"To be perfectly honest, if it wasn't for the fact I _physically_ probably _wouldn't be able to leave_ for the entirety of each day anyway, I would not care about the rule _at all_." Hiro informed them through gritted teeth. Asami stepped forward to try and say something calming, or at least to distract Hiro, for as much as they had their odd kinship, she could hardly just let such recklessness slide, when Munakata spoke up and made them all jump.

"I think it would be dangerous to veer too far in the other direction though."

They all stared at Munakata, who regarded them calmly with his light blue eyes. He took his time, sweeping his gaze over all of them, as he continued speaking.

"The little things can have the biggest impacts, you know. Perhaps the new festival rule is pointless, and perhaps the Ending the End Class project is big enough that the absence of any possible visitors from here wouldn't cause such a big loss. But still. I think, if we all do something, even just a little gesture, the least that could happen is that they would be grateful for the thought. And that, in a way, is just as important."

"Ahh…Hhm….." Asami was lost for words. She studied this 3C boy that she didn't know, wondering how he knew about all of this in the first place, and why he was so supportive of it. _But does there need to be a reason? Can they not just be supportive alone? No, wait, that doesn't make sense. Even if there isn't some big tale about it all, simply thinking 'I think the system is wrong' is a reason. So, what is his reason?_

"How'd you know about this anyway? And why do you care?" Aida spoke what was on her mind, startling them all again. Munakata swept his gaze back to her, and though the initial gesture was calm, he did not answer immediately, and just bit his lip. Eventually, he shrugged heavily, and addressed them all.

"You guys all know I'm in care, right? I have been since I started here."

 _Fukui-san._ Was the first thing that Asami thought of.

"Nooo, we didn't know that." Ueno stuttered. "I-I'm sorry?"

For the first time in the discussion, Munakata smiled.

"Don't be. It's better all-around for me. But anyway, I recently found out that one of the people who look after us in the orphanage where I live, who lived there himself as a child, was a 3E member once. And there's this social worker- he's not mine, but he's always so nice to any of us he meets, whether we're his or not- who was also a 3E member. And I admire both of them so, so much. I want to be them when I'm older. So yeah."

Munakata shrugged and stopped his explanation right there. Asami still found herself confused, but everyone else seemed entranced by his words. Hiro in particular had softened again, and was actually smiling with a pretty satisfied expression, as if she had just been given the right answer to some question or other.

"So….well," Asami clapped her hands once to get their attention. "That settles it then. We should just think about what we can do realistically, and then plan around that. So? Anyone got any ideas?"

Asami decided not to mention that she would be escorting Kei to the museum early in the morning each day. It would have been the perfect icebreaker, a way to help encourage them but…well, this was her family. Though related to all this business, this aspect of it all was hers, and hers alone.

"I actually have an idea." Ueno stuck his hand up hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"For our jumble sale, Akaike-kun's managed to get reusable bags from somewhere a relative works, so we're going to package everyone's goods in there. Now, given that I've got Ruko-kun in that class, and now I'm talking to her and most of the others again, I'm sure I can get a hold of a stack of leaflets that we can put inside each bag so that customers receive word about it, and maybe they'll be interested enough to come along later in the day, or the next day."

"That doesn't work for the final day." Aida pointed out.

"But, it works for the first and the second. " Munakata returned smartly, almost deadpan.

"That it does. Okay, that's approved."

"Well, this isn't much of a discussion." Aida rolled her eyes, but was grinning.

"Udemae-kun, would you be prepared to do that as well?" Ueno asked Eka. Her eyes widened for a moment, and she hesitated, before nodding.

"I can ask for leaflets too. "She nodded determinedly. Ueno smiled charismatically.

"Good."

They spent a little more time batting ideas back and forth. Hiro revealed that she'd been conferring with Tada about a lot of the festival anyway, but that she'd also been making aprons for the restaurant portion of the museum. Aida figured she could probably get away with going to visit them the day before the festival started and helping them out with any last-minute odd-jobs, and Asami eventually revealed that she'd visit early in the morning, long before the school day could have said to started anyway, for similar reasons (but still, she did not mention Kei). As for Munakata, he decided that he could ask some of the workers at the orphanage where he lived if they'd consider visiting, along with some of the younger residents, and that he'd probably try to sneak over, since he didn't have a big role in the class anyway and wouldn't be noticed.

"I'd notice." Came the almost immediately defiant response to this last statement of Munakata's.

"Oh, really? Well, that's reassuring." Munakata said, almost flippant. "Still, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

"Uh….Munakata-kun, who are you talking to?" Hiro frowned as she looked at everyone's faces. "That voice isn't coming from here…."

 _Oh. Shit._

Everyone turned around, looking for the voice, and eventually spotting the tiny girl. Well, not necessarily tiny as such, for she was the same height as Asami (she knew she was short herself, but she would _not_ consider herself tiny), but there was something about her that seemed even younger, even as the way she leaned against the wall opposite them, arms crossed, one leg slightly bent, regarding them from underneath her auburn hair made her seem world weary and so much older.

"Oh! Kashima-san." Munakata said simply, rubbing the back of his head and not mentioning his gaffe.

"How the hell did you not notice her? Kashima-san, was it?" Asami asked.

"Tsukasa is fine." The girl tonelessly answered. She turned her head slightly towards them, but still didn't fully reveal her face.

"Okay then, Tsukasa." Aida planted both hands on her hips, and stared her down suspiciously. "Mind telling me what you're eavesdropping for?"

"What? No…"

"Well, at least, how long have you been here? You could have said something earlier, if you wanted to be involved too. I assume that's what you want?" Asami interrupted.

"I…well….I don't know. That's why I came."

"Tch, that doesn't make sense!" Aida snorted. Asami narrowed her eyes at her, which did not escape anyone.

"What?" Aida asked. "You were wondering that too, right?"

"I'd at least like to know how you found out we were meeting. " Ueno spoke up suddenly. Tsukasa scuffed the ground with the toe of her trainer, and looked briefly before looking up, revealing bewildered hazel eyes.

"You have a brother in that class, you have a sister in that class. " She pointed to Hiro, then to Asami. Then, she moved to Ueno and Eka.

"You have a teammate in that class, you have a precious friend in that class." She hesitated as she regarded Aida and Munakata

"I don't know you, but you were in 3E for a while, so that explains itself. And you, you're in my class, and I know that you never agreed with the system in the first place. But I didn't know why until now. And I still need more answers even with that."

Though it seemed like she was unfinished, this was where Tsukasa chose to stop, and it took a moment for them to realise she had done so.

"That seems fair enough, I guess. " Munakata shrugged eventually. _Clearly, something makes sense to him that doesn't make sense to us._

"Do you two interact a lot, by any chance?" Hiro asked almost teasingly, pointing to Tsukasa and Munakata.

"Not really. Why?" Munakata wanted to know. Tsukasa did not react at all.

"Oh, no reason." Hiro airily replied, smiling. They all gave her an odd look. _Oh…kay then?_

"A-Are you saying you have someone important in that class, either from now or before, then?" Eka ventured just as the silence threatened to spill over into awkward. Tsukasa nodded.

"Yes. And, knowing 3E as it is, I want to know more. So that….I can understand things. And maybe fix things. If I can."

 _Kei. She has an equivalent of a Kei in her life. I wonder who they are, really._ In truth, Asami could not remember much of any snippets of the museum Hana had 'given' to her apart from Yari's story, so she could not think of who it could be.

"Do you think that joining our resistance will help with that?" Munakata asked her. Tsukasa stared at him, and then straightened and moved away from the wall, and walked over to join them. Munakata moved to make space for her in the circle, and she joined happily enough.

"I can but try. "

"Hmm….." They all looked to her, given that she'd elected herself ringleader of all of this mess. She frowned, and considered this. _She's trying to fix things with her 'Kei', so how can I refuse? In any case, it would be stupid to refuse any offered help._

"Well then, that's good enough for me."


	56. Welcome to the Museum, part 9

Tsukuda was just about to ring the doorbell when the door opened unexpectedly.

"Aunt Chika!"

Almost immediately, Tsukuda covered her mouth and felt herself go hot. Chika, on her part, just cackled, not seeming too bothered.

"Ah, it's almost accurate anyway." Was all she had to say about the matter. Tsukuda just nodded, absolutely mortified.

"So," Chika cleared her throat, "Come in, come in. I'm assuming you've come to see Tadaomi."

Chika stepped back inside and once Tsukuda was in, closed the door.

"I have. But he doesn't know that I've come, I guess it's like a surprise. I hope you don't mind the intrusion, but…"

 _But he needs me. Or, at the very least, I need to try and do something for him._

"Ah, no, it's fine. I think it'll be nice for him. They've both been so stressed out lately, and really tired. I'm guessing it's the festival but man, I don't remember school festivals were this much trouble! In any case, Hiro's out, practising with her club, so you guys have the house to yourselves. You remember where his room is, right?"

 _If only it was just the craziness of the festival. If only._ Tsukuda could still feel the way Tada had been shaken by the discoveries that had been made earlier in the week as though it was _her_ life story that had been challenged.

"Yes, sure. Thank you." Having taken off her own shoes, Tsukuda clocked that Chika was ready to go out, probably to a recording session or something along those lines. But then she stopped, and turned to gawp incredulously at Chika. _Did she just tell me that it was perfectly fine for me to be in Tada's room, alone with him?_ Chika was still looking at her, and apparently seemed to clock something of her confusion, for she laughed again.

"I'll explain myself. I'm pretty aware about the perils of hormonal teenagers, never mind hormonal teenagers in love, so I know that pretty much every parent would be wary about leaving them to their own devices in a bedroom. But…I'm Tada's aunt, not his mother or father, and I don't know what they would have thought of this. But, I trust my nephew, and because he implicitly trusts you, I do too. That, and all things considered, being sure that he's okay even though he's still grieving-like we all are in this family-probably outweighs any typical parental concerns about teenage antics. That being said, much as I absolutely adore the two of you together, it is probably best not to go too overboard while you're only still in middle school. Okay?"

"I-yeah, sure. I get it. Thanks, Aunt Chika." Tsukuda was somewhat embarrassed again but found herself touched by her admission. Chika, on her part, just winked and then left the house. After a moment, Tsukuda went up the stairs and up to the door of Tada's room. She paused for a moment, and tried to compose herself. She had been in his room plenty of times by now, but usually with others in the class, to study or just chill out for a while. When they spent time alone, it was usually somewhere else, their favourite area being near to where they'd seen the summer festival fireworks.

 _Oh, just put a lid on it. It's not such a big deal._ She took a breath, and then carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Tada was at his desk, working hard on something. He didn't seem to notice her, so she just waited for a moment, watching him at work. She liked watching him, looking at him. Eventually though, she decided to alert him of her presence.

"Tada."

He looked up, wildly surprised, and then she swore that he physically lit up when his eyes settled on her.

"Hanae! I…erm…" He beamed as he stood up and walked to her, but that didn't disguise how he still looked pale and there were still dark circles under his eyes. Wrapping his arms around her, Tada embraced her tightly for a moment, then stepped back to meet her eyes.

"How come you're here?"

"To surprise you, obviously. Silly." She teased.

"Well, it worked. I'm glad you're here."

Good to know. So, what are you doing there? Studying?"

"Actually, no. I'm drawing something. I, um…it's a surprise." Tada looked away for a moment, and the almost undetectable blush he sometimes had coloured his cheeks. Tsukuda blinked, even as she grinned internally.

"For me?"

"Yeah." Tada looked at her again, and tenderly brushed her cheek with his fingers, and smiled gently. "Yeah. I'm nearly finished though, so…"

"I can wait. Where should I sit? The bed? Or the floor?"

"Whatever you prefer, I guess."

Tada went back to his desk, and after scanning the room, Tsukuda chose to sit on the bed, and sat at the edge of it, studying the photographs that Tada kept on his bedside table. As well as the three from when he was little, he now had one of the whole-group-photo that they'd taken during the summer festival, and every time she saw that, it made her smile. A little time went by, mostly in a comfortable silence, though they did talk a little, about silly, inconsequential things, and then Tada finished.

"Okay, done. Just wait a moment…."

Tsukuda tilted her head and watched him as he went to his cupboard and looked through one of the drawers before producing what looked like a photo frame. A little moment passed where she couldn't see what he was doing, and then he stood up triumphantly, and loped over to sit next to her.

"Here you go."

He handed her the photo frame with a hopeful expression, and she took it. Confused until she saw a sketched colour-pencil version of herself staring out at her. It was a portrait of her, in Tada's usual art style, but somehow dreamier. In the picture, she was looking over her shoulder and laughing at something, or someone. She looked free, and happy, and many other wonderful things she could not find the right words for. _And beautiful. Do I really look like this in real life?_

"I…you did this for me?" A silly question, but all she could think to ask. Tada didn't call her out on it though.

"Yeah, well. I said to myself that I'd draw you properly one day. That and I thought it would be nice if I could show you how I see you…"

"Tada…." She looked down at the picture and smiled at it, before meeting his eyes again. "Thank you."

He just smiled, and she put the frame with the picture carefully in her bag, which she then put down on the floor near her feet. Then, almost on an impulse, she leaned in a little closer to kiss him briefly. When she began to move away, he pulled her back and kissed her again, and they stayed like that until they both needed to come up for air, as it were.

"So," Tsukuda eventually said, leaning her forehead against his. "Talk."

"About?" he asked, though from the way his eyes widened, it was clear he knew. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're not. And you don't need to pretend to be, so don't. " She told him bluntly. Tada bit his lip, and looked down for a moment, but didn't move away. A long moment stretched out, and she watched his features carefully. Memorised them.

"You're not sleeping, are you?" she asked gently, when the moment stretched for longer than she would have liked, without him saying anything. Hesitantly, Tada nodded slightly, reluctantly agreeing.

"I…..it's all….." he straightened up and looked at her, making confused gestures with his hands as he did so. "I'm sort of just….I don't know, Hanae. That's the real problem. I don't know. About anything and…."

Another pause, and Tsukuda waited, though it was killing her. _What do I do? What can I do for you?_

"Do you know it's barely been a year? Not even one year. But at the same time, it feels so long that if feels like I should be starting to get over things, to feel better, but it's almost like now I've just been shoved back to square one, except where the hell _is_ square one in this case? Am I still grieving for the same people? I'm certainly not on the same route that I started on. _And_ I bet that none of that even made sense to you. "

His voice hitched, tripped over itself, and he stopped at that point.

 _Tada…_

"Well, you do have a consistently wonderful but baffling way of using words, so I would say yes. But at the same time, it does make sense. Why on earth tamp it down though, Tada? You could have said something, asked one of us to take over some responsibilities or something…."

"But that would be running away! And I already _did_ that the last time I got overwhelmed! I can't do that again, that's not right!"

"I….Tada….I've got you, you know. 'No matter what', remember?"

"I do, I remember. It's just….." Tada shrugged heavily. "It didn't feel fair, to put this on anyone else. The 3E Museum isn't just about my story and family history, it's about _all_ of our class, and everyone who's joining or helping. I couldn't just make it about _me_."

"Easing off a little, delegating to me or Eriko, or just venting to me isn't making it 'all about you' you moron."

Tsukuda felt suddenly angry at him, though at the same time, it really wasn't him that she was angry at, but his kindness, the devotion he felt to his family, the secrets that had been kept from him, the ghost for being a ghost, the album for having had that secret compartment, Maehara for freaking out, the rest of the class for not noticing or trying harder when most of them considered him a friend. She was just angry, because she _hated_ how devastated and confused he was. But the anger suddenly dissipated when Tada suddenly shuffled closer and rested his head against her shoulder, face turned away. He didn't say anything, or even make much of a sound, but the shoulder of her dress quickly grew damp. For an odd, shameful moment, she found herself thinking she rather liked the dress she happened to be wearing, but then instantly scolded herself. It was just water, after all. _Just tangible sadness. That's all._ Instinctively, she put her arms around him, one hand rubbing slow circles on his back, and she closed her eyes and hummed while waiting. Eventually, he sat up and blinked many times, rubbing droplets from his eyes.

"I, uhm, sorry."

"Don't apologise." She looked at him, again studying his features, and then reached out to trace the circles under his eyes.

"We need to do something about the sleep you're not getting. Sooner or later, you will crash and burn if you don't…." Tsukuda thought for a moment, frowning as, for no particular reason, she looked around the room. But then she thought of the portrait that he had drawn for her.

"Okay, we'll try something now. "She proclaimed. "Get under your covers and lie down."

"I….huh?" Tada blinked at her. "You want me to sleep now? While you're still here?"

"Me being here is the point. I'll be with you the whole time, next to you."

Tada just stared at her, apparently gobsmacked. She wasn't sure why, but then it dawned on her and she went red.

"Not like that! I'm talking about _actual sleep_. Maybe it'll be easier for you if you aren't alone. It's….worth a try anyway? I'll stay on top of the covers."

"Hanae…." Tada murmured, eyes wide. "I….guess that could work. I always feel more settled, with you. And you can use the quilt too, it's fine…"

"Well then!" Tsukuda grinned before things could get awkward. "Are you going to or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Tada rolled his eyes, and smiled hesitantly- _yes, he's smiling!_ \- before crawling over to the far side of the bed, and then pulling the quilt up and lying down, resting his head on the pillow, and watching her as she settled next to him, before pulling the quilt up so it just reached their shoulders. Then, they faced each other.

 _Well, this is weird._ She wondered if this counted as 'going overboard', but decided it wasn't. _Not on this occasion. There are other priorities here, namely making sure Tada's okay._

"Say, Protector of the Small, are you going to try and sleep too? If I'm able to fall asleep?" Tada asked out of the blue.

"I probably won't, but I'm not sure."

"Oh. That might mess up with your sleep patterns though."

"Most likely, but that's alright, I can stay up late playing Fruit Ninja instead. It's a Saturday, so it's okay to do that. "

"That's sounds almost like you're addicted. Should I be concerned?"

"Says the person who introduced me to the game!"

They both laughed at that, and couldn't stop for a while. When they did calm down, Tada looked seriously at her again, and then reached under the quilt for her hand.

"Hanae, will you marry me?"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"Not now." Tada clarified. "I mean, obviously. But later on, when we're adults, out of school. Will you marry me?"

"Well, of course."

 _You didn't need to ask me,_ she conveyed silently.

 _Yeah, I know._

"Obviously," Tada muttered, now a little bashful. "I'll propose properly in the future…but…yeah."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Now, try and get some sleep."

Tada pulled a face, but did indeed oblige and close his eyes. Some moments passed, but his breathing did eventually even out, just as Tsukuda suspected it would. _He's exhausted._ She watched him carefully though, just to be sure. Then she closed her own eyes.

 **…**

 _What, exactly, do I say?_

Hiro's hands, loose by her sides, curled up into fists as she looked down at the gravestones. It had been the first time in a long, long time since she'd come here. Because she had refused before that. _Because I was so angry at Papa, for leaving us._ She still was, very much so, but now that had tempered somewhat, and she was left with a new feeling. _Mama, why did you keep those secrets? You showed us that album day after day, and yet you never said a word about those two. Nagisa and Kaede._ Still, at least she knew now why she and Tada had not been able to hold the album, or look at it alone. Their curious fingers might have unpicked the secret compartment open, and then where would that have left them? Not just her mother, but all of her former class.

 _Papa. And you too, Papa. Because you didn't know about this, I'm sure._ She was fairly sure of that, in any case. And it made her realise that in this way, she and Tada were not the only ones who had been betrayed. So, she was here, staring at the names of her parents carved onto the stones, with nothing to say. Or rather, many things to say, but no idea how to say it. That was always Tada's thing, the talking endlessly when appropriate. The storytelling. She could have asked him to come with her, but she hadn't, because somehow, she knew that she needed to have this first ever time alone. That this portion of her grief belonged exclusively to her, and related to how she had been dealing with it. _Which is to say, not much at all._

The breeze lifted her hair, so she put a hand up to hold it back from her face, and sighed as she looked up. In her address book, right at the back, she had the address and phone number of a particular jail- the one that Kaede Kayano now sat in. About a day or so after Tada had told her what had been found (and shown it to her too), she had secretly wheedled the information out of Megu (though she had a strong feeling that now Isogai and Maehara at least knew about this, too). She had yet to do anything with said information though, and thought that perhaps _that_ would be something she'd ask Tada to help her with when the first time for that came. _Or something. I don't know. How can I know?_

As she thought about this, she heard footsteps. Clunky ones, like they were being made by boots. And sure enough, when she looked over to her side, she saw someone wearing boots, and stockings and a long-sleeved dress in a particularly dark shade of purple.

"Oh. It's you." Shiki remembered to remove the lollipop from her mouth before speaking. She frowned for a moment, almost imperceptible, and then it cleared.

"Chihiro-san."

"Shiki. Hello." _I wasn't expecting this. How do I leave?_

"Your….your parents?" Shiki used the lollipop to point. Hiro nodded slowly.

"Yes. What about….who are you visiting?" Hiro hadn't exactly been paying attention, but she had not noticed any graves marked with the family name 'Yoshitsune'. But then again, they could be a maternal relative, or a friend. _Or anyone._

"I'm not."

"You're…not?" Hiro narrowed her eyes at Shiki, who shrugged.

"I'm practising. Sort of. I'm getting used to here, because I might have to."

 _Ah. Right._ They had met for the very first time in a hospital after all. She and Tada had come back from visiting Karasuma, and she'd come out from a different room and waited for the same lift as them. _And then,_ Hiro remembered with an internal embarrassed laugh, _Tada got her on-board for the 3E Museum._

"So….?"

"My former class representative. In 3E." Shiki hesitated a moment, then added. "My friend."

Hiro made an effort to bite back the surprise she felt at Shiki not misunderstanding or refusing to answer the question.

"What happened?"

Shiki shrugged heavily. The grip on her lollipop tightened as she evaluated Hiro carefully, the rapid movements of her visible eye the only indicator of whatever her feelings were. Eventually, she chose to speak further, but not before she looked down at the somewhat grassy ground.

"Traffic accident, just after graduation. Bus driver had a heart attack while at the wheel, and so the bus nearly hit the two of us as we walked part the way home. I would have been the same as her, except she pushed me out of the way, so I only got a little hurt. Perhaps if I had thought of the same thing, we would both be fine now. Instead, she's in a coma. "

 _And now that's why you wander graveyards to get 'used to them'. Oh, Shiki._ Hiro could not properly quantify the sadness she felt about such a story, but oddly enough, she felt less alone.

"You…don't know what you have to. Miracles happen all the time." She should know. Both she and Tada had spent hours searching for miracle stories of people awakening from comas after years and years.

"And they _don't_ happen just as frequently." Shiki returned.

"Yeah. That's why I'm here." Hiro blandly retorted. Shiki's eyes widened, surprise rippling across her face in a similar manner to which it had back during their first encounter. And just as she had then, she did eventually smile. But though there was still something foxy about it, this smile was a lot, lot gentler.

"Touché, I suppose. But both of us are right, in that case. Your person at the hospital –they're a different person to them, right?"

"Yeah. That's our godfather we're visiting." _And the namesake of my brother, and someone who definitely knows exactly what Mama's class has been hiding. Who might even be the key to it. Oh, I hope miracles do happen, because there is so much that we need to know._

"I see." Shiki simply said. After that, neither of them said anything for a moment, and they just regarded each other. Eventually, Hiro broke the stare to gaze at the graves of her parents, before kneeling to pick up the bag that had her dance kit and other things in it.

"Well, I'm going to go now." She said. "Are you….?"

"Staying. Here. For a little bit."

"Ah. Well, alright. Guess I'll see you around."

After Shiki had nodded at her and walked further into the cemetery, Hiro left it, and headed straight home, not really thinking much about anything. When she got to her street, she thought she saw Tsukuda walking away from their house in the other direction, but as her back was turned, she couldn't be sure. _Okay then._ Without thinking too much about it, she reached her own place and opened the door, and looked around, wondering where Tada was. What he was doing. Her wonderings were partially answered when Tada came out of the kitchen just as she had slipped off her shoes.

"Was practise good?" he asked her.

"Strenuous. Intense and a little bit frantic, but yeah. I doubt we'll mess up at the festival, if that's an indicator.

"Good to know!" Tada beamed. Hiro gawped, taken aback by the brightness she was able to detect in her brother's voice, and studied him closely.

"Did Hanae come by, by any chance? I thought I saw her going down the other way when I reached the road, but I wasn't sure."

"Yeah, she left a few moments ago. " Tada said. "We had ice-cream, so I was just washing up the stuff."

"That sounds fun." Hiro commented, a little dazed for no reason that she could think of.

"She came a couple of hours after you left this morning, as a surprise for me. I finished the drawing that I was doing for her and got to give it to her. And then, somehow, with her insistence and help, I got some sleep. "

At that, Hiro found herself extremely grateful for Tsukuda's presence in Tada's life. Not that she had minded before, but now her opinion had elevated greatly. _I would still go back, if I could. I would still rather this never happened._

"Finally. You've been straining yourself far too much."

"Yeah…..Hanae said that too. But I didn't really know what else…what else to do…you know?" Tada shrugged wistfully, but still smiled.

"Yeah, I know." Hiro returned the smile, and then took a deep breath. "After practise today, I visited Mama and Papa."

"Huh?" Tada blinked, utterly confused. Hiro waited it out. "You….you….really? You did?"

Hiro nodded.

"I haven't forgiven him or anything, I'm still angry. But…..after now, I'm not sure I hate him anymore."

"Hiro…." Tada's eyes misted over, and he wiped at them. Then, he grabbed Hiro in a squeezing hug.

"You didn't have to go alone. I could have come with you, all you needed to do was ask." He exclaimed when he let go.

"Nah," Hiro shook her head as she straightened out her jumper dress again. "This particular occasion was one I needed to do alone."

She would have left it at that, but Tada was frowning at that. _Silly, overzealous, caring Tada. We'll both be fine, won't we?_

"No, really. Anyway, for you, today was clearly better served by enjoying all the pleasures of Hanae and whatever ice cream you ate." She grinned at him cheekily, and he relaxed a fraction.

"You're teasing, aren't you?" he scrutinised her.

"Well, consider it payback for all the times you tease me about Saito. Though really, that was just me getting warmed up."

"Hiro!"

Both of them laughed for a few moments, and then Tada sobered up.

"But seriously, Hiro. Next time I will come with you to see Mum and Dad, and then you can bring flowers too."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Admittedly, she had felt bad about not having brought flowers herself this time around, but she hoped that her parents would be fine with that.

"Good. So, do you want any snacks or anything? I was thinking of making some cookies or something?"

"Maybe. But I need to change first."

"Cool, okay." Tada disappeared back into the kitchen, and Hiro went up the stairs. As she did, she thought of the jail details she had not yet shared, but she did not find herself unduly anxious about those. Because she would tell Tada about those, and then they would go there together when the time was right. Not her alone, but both of them.

 **…**

Kuroba got up from where he'd been sitting, and stretched. Obviously, what he was looking for wasn't there. _Hm, so where do I look next?_ The disadvantage of living somewhere big was that when looking for something, the phrase 'it could be anywhere' took on a new meaning, especially when one wanted to search for it themselves.

"Ah, I guess I'll ask Dad." Kuroba shrugged, and then blinked, realising he had just talked out loud to himself. And that weirdly, he did not care. _I would have before, though._ And he knew full well that was because of being in 3E. A lot of interesting and surprising things had happened because of 3E, not least meeting his own brother. Well, half-brother, but at this point, the distinctions didn't matter. What was of more concern was that hadn't been the most interesting thing to occur. _I didn't think that I'd end up in what could possibly be the last 3E of Kunugigaoka Junior High. Nor that I would be actively helping to fight towards such ago. And what about what it we've ended up unearthing?_

Annoyed, Kuroba shook his head, and surveyed the room to make sure he hadn't left too much of a mess. There was no use dwelling on things, not even the niggling thought that he should have left the photo album well alone. There were bigger things at stake, so after putting a few items back in place, he left the room and went upstairs to find Shinjuro.

The first few possible places were a no-go, but the next place he tried after that proved to be right, and startlingly enough, his timing was such that Shinjuro quite literally opened the door to his office just as Kuroba headed to it.

"Seijuro, were you looking for me?"

"Yes. Are you busy?"

"No, no, I've just finished a meeting, so I'm all yours. What's wrong?"

"Do you know where the speakers are? The old ones from the hall that you replaced last year? They still work, don't they? I was thinking of bringing them in for the festival."

"Yeah, they did, it just wasn't great for the hall they were meant to be in. So I didn't throw them away….Hmmm…." Shinjuro frowned.

"Ah, the school festival, huh? It's still a big deal in Kunugigaoka, am I right?"

"A-A-Asano-san?" Kuroba had to rapidly recalibrate, for he had not been expecting _Gakushuu Asano_ to be walking out of his father's office. Sure, their occupations still had something in common, but the added connections just made it weird. _Be careful, Seijuro._

"Oh? Asano-san, you know my son?" Shinjuro regarded Gakushuu, withholding judgement but still clearly suspicious. Gakushuu, for his part, just nodded calmly.

"I would not say know, as such, but I have been following his class's actions with some interest."

"Ah, I see." Shinjuro visibly relaxed. "Yes, I'm pretty proud of Seijuro, doing something like that. I was friendly with a few 3E members when I attended the school, and quite frankly didn't see the difference between them and me, at least, not anything beyond the differences that are displayed between any set of people, as humans. So I've been following the project too."

 _More than friendly, in some cases._ Kuroba berated himself immediately after thinking that. The past was a horrible mess, but as far as he was concerned, it was better that it was known. _And it's not just my past that's better off known….._

"So then, Kuroba-kun, how's the festival going? You asked for speakers?" After an exchange of a few more words, Gakushuu returned his attention to Kuroba.

"I think it's going pretty well, so far." Kuroba replied a bit stiffly. "We're going to have some music playing in the main museum room."

"Oh? What kind of music? Like the album that the 3E of my time made?"

"You know about it?" Kuroba could not hide his surprise. _How much does he know? About what they've been hiding, the Yanagisawa murder? His father must have known at the very least, there's no way a man like him wouldn't have._

"The Chairman procured a copy, somehow. It was….at the time, it showed a surprising level of talent. In hindsight, I think that maybe it wasn't so astonishing."

"Ah, well…" Kuroba blinked for a moment, and then recovered. "In any case, we have a couple of others who have released albums, and have allowed us to use their music."

"Any names I might know of?"

 _Ah, okay, so he won't mention any more of that. Good. That's for the best._

"What if you come to the museum and find out for yourself?" Kuroba challenged. After that, there was a silence, and Gakushuu regarded him almost stonily. Shinjuro did not say anything, but regarded them both somewhat warily. And then, Gakushuu laughed.

"You must be pretty confident that this Museum is going to work then, if you can say that with ease."

Kuroba thought about the hours spent interviewing people, of slowly rearranging tables and organising menus. He thought about the different faces of the different lives that had passed through 3E, and where they had all ended up. He thought about sitting outside with Hana and Izzy on an unusually sunny day for the season, folding the last 20 odd birds that she needed for her two wishes and stringing them into ropes, and then how a few days later he had kept watch over her so that she wouldn't fall while standing on a chair and hanging these ropes across the ceiling of the corridor so that the birds looked like they were soaring.

"There won't be any two ways about it." He firmly proclaimed.

"And I'm going to be visiting there myself, schedule allowing." Shinjuro butted in at that point.

"I see…." For an odd moment, it felt like Gakushuu could see the things that Kuroba was thinking of, and he narrowed his eyes at him. The older man was taken aback for a moment, but quickly composed himself, and then moved to open his briefcase, taking a few things out before snapping it closed again, and then producing a pen from inside his smart grey blazer. When he flipped it open to scribble in it, Kuroba saw it was a chequebook.

"As I said, I've been following you. But that isn't for nothing. I'm aware that you're building connections that'll be helpful, especially because they're so unconventional. However, you're still in Kunugigaoka, and there, the Asano name still carries some weight, despite the years."

Gakushuu held out a cheque and a card that was slightly bigger than business card, but still seemed to have the same purpose as one. Kuroba stared at the two items for a moment, and then carefully took them. Studying the cheque, he nodded, impressed. The amount of money was not a mind boggling one to him (though he knew that for other class members, it would be), but all the same, it was impressive for the circumstances.

"I'll sponsor you. Not by much, because you clearly don't need it. But this isn't some meaningless contribution. I am expecting results from your 3E. Make sure the Kitakawa boy and the other representatives know too."

"Of course. I wouldn't expect any less." Kuroba returned to stiff formality. But then he softened again.

"And thank you."

Gakushuu just nodded at this, and then returned to chatting with Shinjuro (who by now was incredibly curious). Shinjuro went to walk Gakushuu up to the front door as they did so, and then came back.

"Well then." Shinjuro looked at Kuroba, red eyes meeting red eyes. "That was a….interesting conversation to listen to. I feel like I might have said this before recently, but I don't think I quite realised just how much you have been growing up. "

As a matter of fact, he had said something like that before, around the time that Kuroba had revealed that he'd found Izzy, and even before that, when he'd found out about why Izzy had come into existence into the first place and he had asked to be allowed to attend Kunugigaoka because of it. But Kuroba decided not to mention it. _That wouldn't achieve anything._

"How long have you known Gakushuu Asano?"

"Hmm…maybe about 5 years or so? If you're asking about in terms of Kunugigaoka, we were both aware of being alumni, but since he was long gone by the time I entered, it never really had relevance to us."

"Okay…."

"I meant it about the festival, you know. Saying that I would come and visit. "

"If you can't, it's fine. Really."

"Oh, it really isn't." Shinjuro shook his head vehemently. "It really isn't. I want to see what you've been doing, and properly. For both you and Izaya. I think I owe it to you both, at the very least."

"Dad…"

"But anyway, how about you go and put that somewhere safe, and then I'll help you look for those speakers that you wanted to use? I was thinking about it while you were having your conversation with Asano-san, and I have a couple of ideas as to where they might have been left…"


	57. Welcome to the Museum, part 10

**So...I get my exam results tomorrow. Oh happy days =P**

* * *

As usual, when dinner was left for him, Kei took it to the computer and ate it while browsing. But when he was asked what he was doing this time, he didn't lie.

 _DoubleI_ _: Hey there! How are you today?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Fine, I guess. I am eating dinner now and….not doing much else, really._

 _DoubleI:_ _What do you have for dinner?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _It's a hamburger steak._

 _DoubleI:_ _Ooh, tasty. You enjoying it?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Yeah._

This lack of judgement, the lack of pity or reprimand was what he liked about DoubleI. That, and the fact that whoever they were exactly, they seemed to know exactly what to say to make him feel a bit braver about the world, or at least make him think about things. And he definitely needed to think about things. The leaflet that was still tucked safely under the mousemat was proof of that. _Hana wants me to come….and in her own way, Asami wants that too. But it has to start with me. Do I want to go? I suppose I do, but at the same time…_

Kei did not want to work himself up too much, so the online chat covered lighter topics as he ate. When he had finished, he got up to take the tray outside, this time not rushing to go back inside, but still not particularly eager to linger. When he got back and sat down, his fingers hesitated a moment before typing.

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _if I was going to attempt to leave the house, do you think that going to a school festival would be the best idea?_

The reply did not come straight away, but it did come.

 _DoubleI:_ _Why a festival in particular?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _My sister wants me to see the attraction her class is working on. My other sister told me this. And….it's a pretty different sort of attraction, one that has some relevance to me._

 _DoubleI:_ _Oh?_

Kei bit his lip, wondering how to explain Ending the End Class, the museum and why it resonated with him so strongly without sounding more deranged than he felt himself to be for feeling these things. In the end, he opened a new tab to bring up the project's blog and then specifically one of the posts talking about the upcoming museum, before copy-pasting it into the chat box and sending it…at the exact same time that DoubleI did.

 _IStillHaveDreams_ _: How did you know that was what I was talking about?!_

Kei typed almost immediately, not sure what he felt about this. He felt his heart race faster than he'd ever felt it race, and he put a hand on his chest, as though the compression could calm it once more. _Breathe, Kei. You need to breathe._ He did so, and gradually, he managed to calm a little. But now, his mind raced at this odd, odd coincidence as he read the reply.

 _DoubleI:_ _I didn't. I just thought that this was also 'pretty unique', and it seemed appropriate to bring it up because of that. That, and I had a feeling it's the type of thing you'd agree with. Given what the Kunugigaoka system is like, and all._

 _DoubleI:_ _I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shock you._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _It's….it's okay._

 _DoubleI:_ _That's good. So, I'm guessing that your sisters are involved in this in some way? Is one of them in that 3E?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _…_ _..yeah. And…..I used to be…..but I don't want to tell you more than that._

 _DoubleI:_ _Of course. That's fine. I think you've revealed a lot anyway, which is brave of you. You should know that. But anyway, I can tell you that I have a connection to all this too- my father._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _A former 3E member too?_

 _DoubleI:_ _Yes._

Kei sat back at that, surprised. _Wow._ Obviously, it was to be expected. Kunugigaoka did not seem to want to die, it made sense that it would have impacted people with far more years on the earth than he had. He wondered just how DoubleI's father had been impacted by his time in 3E. How it had impacted his own children. _I hope that person fared better than me. That they were able to be helped by Isogai-san and the others. I hope…._ His thoughts skidded to a halt as he realised that generally, he was hoping and hoping. And that it didn't seem to feel like a pointless endeavour of any sort to hope.

 _"_ _I probably should have asked you this before, but what the actual hell happened to you? You used to have all these….all these…." Asami waved her hands around randomly, and then found the word, continuing seamlessly._

 _"_ _Ambitions! And they were so silly, and stupid, but at least you had_ them _, and_ talked _about them. And you were bright with it, too!_

Kei sighed and looked up at the ceiling as he recalled Asami's words. Admittedly, things were starting to appear as if maybe they were not so doomed as he imagined them to be. But at the same time, there was so much to find and to fix. Even with the beginnings of a new hope, he felt it far too heavily, pressing on his head, filling up his chest.

"Well, then, maybe it's time to start with that." He eventually concluded to himself. Of course, he'd realised that when Asami had manipulated things (he knew that it had been Asami even if he could not say it, because for all her foibles, that was the type of thing she'd do for someone who needed it) such that he had no choice but to stare Hana face on for the first time. _And that didn't end up being too bad, did it?_ Sighing again, he sat up and looked back at his screen, where DoubleI had typed a few more messages.

 _DoubleI:_ _So, there we have it, a stronger link in common. But anyway, back to what we were talking about before._

 _DoubleI:_ _The festival. It's quite a big leap for you, all things considered. I'm not sure I'd ordinarily recommend it. But….._

 _DoubleI:_ _Because this festival attraction is what it is, I'd say go for it. It's probably what you need. If it wasn't for the fact that my school's festival is on the same day_ _-.-'and I'll probably need to supervise for most of that, I'd spend the entirety of all three days there XD._ _But don't go alone. If you can, try and find someone you trust to come with you. That way, if it all gets too much on the first day, they can take you home to recover, and you can try the next day._

 _IStillHaveDreams_ _: I could think of worse ways to spend time. I know it's not exactly easy to just pop into that place, but perhaps at some point when you think your class will be okay for an hour or two?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _And as for me, my other sister (the one who isn't in 3E), is already trying to engineer a surprise for my 3E sister by getting me over there. So I guess I've got that covered, =D_

 _DoubleI:_ _It sure sounds like it. And I like your idea for me. Maybe I will do that, if I can. Hey, maybe we'll even see each other there and never know it! ^^ Or perhaps we might by then, but who knows? I'm not going to push that._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _That sounds fun….but too much, too soon, you know?_

 _DoubleI:_ _Exactly. I figured as much._

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _Even so, thank you. For trying to help me. You managed to._

 _DoubleI:_ _Ah, all in a day's work! I think even when I am old and retired, I'll be a teacher at the core, you know?_

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _I'm not sure I know as such, but yeah, I get that._

"Kei!"

As usual, Asami swung open the door and stared at him.

"The shower's free now." She informed him. A moment passed, and then she narrowed her eyes.

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" she asked, her tone more of a whisper this time. Kei sighed.

"No."

"Good." Was the curt response before Asami shut the door. Kei blinked and stared, and then rubbed his eyes. _I'm still scared, even though I'm braver as well. Is that even possible?_

Shaking his head, he turned back to the computer.

 _IStillHaveDreams:_ _I have to go now, I need to sleep._

 _DoubleI:_ _Ah, sure. Well then, see you later. Sleep well!_

Kei logged out of the site, then closed the other windows before shutting down his computer completely. Then, he stood up and stretched, before carefully but surely crossing the room, opening his door, and stepping out.

 **…**

Time went by very quickly. Even though they were all burning with curiosity about what the secrets surrounding 3E were, the festival still had to happen, and they still had normal lives. And so, they got on with things, and Eriko found herself somewhat glad of that. She didn't know what to make of what they had found, or even how they had found it. It was not easy to cleanly divide things up into right or wrong, and since they weren't about to find answers any time soon, she much preferred to put it aside until they did get those answers. In the meantime, they concentrated on the things that needed doing. Different tasks were assigned, she made sure everyone was still on top of the school work they still needed to do right up until it was almost time, and slowly, their school building became a museum.

One day, at lunchtime, Oshiro came up in his own free time to help them with the museum. Kuroba had brought in speakers to hook up in the main classroom, and they needed help to get them up so the music would better project around the room than it did with the CD player that perched on the teacher's desk, which they had in use just as he arrived.

"Hey there, hope I'm not late!" he saluted them cheerfully, and then tipped his head in the direction of the CD player, thinking.

"Boku dake ga miteta kimi no koto…..hey, I know this song. Not the voice! No, wait!" he grinned at them. "SH3ORI, right! This is her cover of that Sayuri song!"

"Yeah, you've got it!" Ayako beamed, getting up and bounding over. "Awesome, isn't she?"

"Pretty much, yeah? I take it you're a fan?" he asked.

"Oh, definitely. Even more so now I know she was like us!" Ayako beamed.

"How many years ago was her 3E? I'm kind of curious, because I don't actually know."

"Twenty six."

"Ah, wow. Yeah, makes sense actually. She's older than me, after all. So, anyway, the speakers. Do you have them in here?"

"I've kept them here since you called us to say you were coming." Kuroba said, going over to get them. Koujiro, spotting him do this, leapt up to help him, and the rest of the class came closer to watch Oshiro.

"Thank you for coming, by the way." Eriko said as he set the speakers on the desk and started to examine them. His colourful hair flew around his head as he laughed loudly at that.

"Nah, it isn't any trouble at all, seriously. I should be the one thanking you, letting me be a part of this. This is seriously cool, you know. But anyway, if it isn't too much trouble, could one of you go and get any step ladder and tool box…oh, and any planks of wood that you might have?"

"A-Ah, a-are you g-going to make a sh-shelf for the speakers to stand on up there?" Hidaka inquired. Eriko shot him a sharp look (and she was sure others acted similarly taken aback, though she did not look to see), but refrained from saying anything. _I need to get past that, after all._

"Yeah, I am. The structure of the ceiling is solid enough, but I don't think it'll take a set of speakers such as these for three whole days. They're kind of heavy. But I know that they're good ones, and probably better than the CD player by itself in terms of sound quality."

"That's why I decided to find these." Kuroba explained, looking somewhat peeved.

"Yeah, I know. That wasn't meant to imply anything at all, kid, don't worry." Oshiro easily said. Then, he turned back to Hidaka.

"I'm guessing you know a thing or two about this sort of thing?"

"W-w-woodworking club." Hidaka jumped when this made Oshiro clap a hand on his shoulder.

"Well then," Oshiro declared. "Perhaps you can help me with the shelves then?"

"I-I-I can try…." Hidaka stuttered almost painfully. At that point, Haru and Kinomoto, who had run off to get the things that Oshiro had asked for, came back in, and both seemed delighted.

"Guys, guess who's just come up!" Haru exclaimed.

"Presumably you'll tell us anyway?" Ruko deadpanned. Haru came right into the classroom, Kinomoto behind her, and they just smiled. And Yukine walked in right behind them, smiling apologetically.

"Yukine-sempai!" Tada exclaimed. Yukine beamed at being so well received and waved at them all,.

"Hello! I like the birds that you have hanging there-"trailing off, Yukine's friendly smile wavered for a moment, and uncertainty coloured his expression.

"Ah, I probably should have called ahead, but I've got the afternoon off, and I was thinking perhaps there's something I could help with. I mean, it would probably be a manual labour thing, but, yeah…"

Yukine trailed off once again as he studied the things that they had set up in the middle of the room, and he frowned slightly. When he saw him, Oshiro studied Yukine for a moment, and then grinned and loped over to him and held a hand out for him to shake.

"Hiraku Oshiro, twenty years ago. Who are you?"

Taken aback, Yukine blinked, no doubt startled by both Oshiro's colourful hair and his direct, friendly manner, but he managed to smile and shake the hand offered.

"Yukine Ryuma. Six years ago. Good to meet you, sempai."

"And you, too."

 _I wonder if this museum will be a chance for people who may not have had the chance to otherwise to bond. If they'll be able to build something from this one huge thing that they have in common._

"So then, Ryuma-kun!" Oshiro clapped his hands. "What we're doing here is putting up speakers for the museum these guys are doing, so they can pipe music around."

"Oh, I see? So, where's the electrical outlet for these? And at what point will the speakers be plugged into that CD player? We need to figure out how to keep the wires out of the way as much as possible before thinking about balancing the speakers up there."

"Ah, I will show you that!" Haru exclaimed, bounding up, even though she had barely sat down a few seconds ago. "Oh, and also, I found some big gloves and safety goggles. I hope that'll help?"

"Yeah, that's awesome, kid. Alright then, let's start!"

Eriko snapped off the CD player and took the CD out and put it away so that they could actually use it, and then they all got to work. Most of them just passed things over or went to find things (particularly Fuyumi, who, despite getting stronger every day, really wasn't ready for the major heavy lifting just yet), but a lot of them took part in the heavy lifting, as it were, Eriko included. Lunchtime came and went, but Ichijou didn't interfere, instead suggesting that she assign the lesson as homework since they wouldn't be covering any new material anyway, which they were all grateful for. It was hard work, and they all got more than a little dusty and tired, but they managed to finish, and it was worth it.

"Ah, well, that all looks pretty good. I'd say a job well done, right Hidaka-kun, Ryuma-kun?"

"Y-yeah, I suppose so."

"I think so too. Hopefully this'll help you guys?" Yukine asked, looking at the class almost hopefully. Tada smiled warmly and answered for all of them.

"Yeah, sure. This was more than enough anyway, so thank you so much you two. And everyone, actually. "

"Yup, I second that!" Tsukuda crowed. "Though, we are more than a little dusty…."

"Perhaps we should have changed into our P.E kits before doing this. Ah, well, too late now." Fuyumi shrugged. For some reason, this made Eriko think of a fifteen year old Megu in the military-looking kit she'd seen in those photographs, but she pushed it away. _Don't think of that right now. Don't._

"We could do that now, though." Kaori piped up.

"True. Then we don't need to go home feeling like dust bunnies." Tada conceded.

"Uh….dust _bunnies_? " Eriko raised an eyebrow.

"If the shoe fits!" Tada protested. This, for some reason, made everyone laugh.

"Well, then, that's our cue to leave the kids be. I guess."

"I suppose that we shouldn't take up any more of your time."

"Ah, but you're the ones who helped us!" Tada exclaimed. "Don't feel like you're inconveniencing us or anything like that, because that isn't true at all!"

"Yeah, that's true. I think Ichinose-san is going to make tea, so you may as well wait a little while longer." Fuyumi suggested.

"Ah, Yukimura-san, you really must be psychic." Haru laughed. "But yes, Oshiro-sempai, Ryuma-sempai, please do stay for a cup of tea if you can."

Oshiro and Yukine, having struck up the beginnings of a solid friendship in the time they'd been here, exchanged a look.

"Well, alright then. I've not got anywhere to go for a good few hours anyway." Oshiro shrugged nonchalantly. "What about you, Ryuma-kun?"

"I only need to be home for when my sisters get home really, and I've been brought a little time by the fact that they've all got after school things on today. And Natsume's working a little while longer too. So, yeah. I'll stay for tea. But sure, Ichinose-san, I'd love to. Do you want me to come and help?"

"Oh, if you want to, I wouldn't mind!" With that, Yukine and Haru left the room, and Oshiro chatted with almost all of them, though Akira decided to work more on the menu descriptions and Kitabayashi went to help her, while Yukiyama took out a book. Mainly, they talked about general museum details, and then eventually Oshiro told them a little more about his own 3E, which ended up with him asking a question Eriko was honestly surprised that he hadn't asked before.

"So, you can tell me to push off if you like, but are there any of my former classmates in this museum?"

"Yes, a couple of them." Eriko said. "Do you remember Yari Fukui-san and Sonosuke Suzuki-san?"

Oshiro frowned, but only for a second.

"Fukui-san? She agreed to be a part of this? Wow. I mean, she was just so…..everyone in the school knew what happened to her, it was all over the news at the time. And because she missed the exams, that meant she ended up with us….I mean, we were all teenagers, it's not like we had the same understanding of things that we would have now, but we all knew that she should not have been there at all. "

Oshiro became almost wistful.

"I know I hated Kunugigaoka because of that, even though I never talked to Fukui-san either before or after that incident, not properly. Couldn't wait to get out. But I didn't befriend her or anything. Partially because she was kinda enigmatic anyway, but after something like that….it's hard to know how to talk to someone who was so brutalised, you know? And the grief, too, it came off in waves…."

"Yeah, I get that." Tada nodded too-seriously. Oshiro regarded him levelly and went on.

"It was kind of awkward for us, too, being young and not having a clue and all that, though a few of the others in the class who tried. And there was this care home kid, a bit of a wild boy but I guess essentially an okay person, he made it like, his personal mission to look over her and ….wait. Sonosuke Suzuki, the other one. Is he crazily tall? Messy black hair? Dark brown eyes?"

"Yes." Tsukuda nodded. Oshiro grinned.

"I knew it! Yeah, he was the one. I think they lived in the same orphanage that year, so it kind of made sense. But yeah, the fact that he was a bit of a firecracker and how he was Fukui-san's protector is what I remember of him. It'll be interesting to see what the two of them are like now, if they come to visit."

"I guess they would be interested in you, too." Kinomoto pointed out. "Even if it is just curiosity."

"I think Yari-san will come." Hana said quietly. "I'm sure of it."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. Definitely." Hana did not elaborate, and Eriko remembered that Yari's story had hit Hana the hardest, when they had all heard it that time. _Which is saying something._ Over and over again, Eriko was seeing the different depraved depths that humanity could go to, and what those left behind suffered from that. _But don't forget, Eriko, you've seen the good in the world too. Like sitting right here, in this moment._

"Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing how this looks afterwards. Which I've probably already said." Oshiro laughed loudly at this, just as Yukine and Haru came back in.

"So then, I'll find that for you." Haru told him as they separated to hand out tea cups to everyone.

"Thank you, that's kind. " Yukine replied. "I can't believe something like that would exist. That would help me so much."

"I know. It's just a shame I don't know any cheaper tattoo removing services than the ones you looked at. "Haru was apologetic, and Yukine shook his head at her.

"Ah, it's fine. Really."

Nobody had a clue as to what they are talking about, but the two did not seem to worry too much about that, and they soon stopped anyway, more focused on handing cups out to everyone. Once they had though, Haru did cross over to her seat, grab a paper and pen out of her bag, and then check something on her phone, before scribbling something on the sheet of paper. Once she had, she tucked the pen in her pocket and then handed the sheet of paper to Yukine, who looked incredibly grateful as he accepted it and tucked it into his pocket.

While they finished the tea, Oshiro regaled them all with tales of working in TV production, and Ichijou returned to the classroom and listened as well, still enjoying herself. Once finished, Tada and Tsukuda decided to put away the other materials that were still left out, leaving Eriko to see Oshiro and Yukine out, Kaori joining her. Haru and Kinomoto took all the cups away to wash, and everyone settled back around the large table to start the final lesson of the day. Tada and Tsukuda returned first, and Haru and Kinomoto a little later.

"Hey, Haruka-Chan, what did you ask Yukine about? Or give to him, rather?" Hirigi asked, just as she sat down. She looked over to him.

"I told him about a lady who makes prosthetic fingers for reformed gang members."

Haru didn't seem to find the need to explain, and indeed, she did not need to, for they all understood instantly. And Eriko thought of this as Ichijou started to teach and she took down notes dutifully. It really did seem like lots of friendships and other wonderful things were beginning because of what they were creating. _It's something to be proud of, I know._ But even so, it was not enough to stave off the fear she felt, about whether it would all be enough to do what they had all set out to do. _It has to be though. It has to be. Otherwise, what would be the point of all this?_

Eriko sighed deeply, and put down her pen so she could more closely listen to what was being said now before making more notes. And she made an extra effort in making herself listen. Because things still went on, and that was how it should be.

 **…**

"Do you think we should do an overnight stay the day before the festival?"

The question was posed by Tsukuda when she arrived and approached him that morning. Tada frowned quizzically.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess like a sleepover. The night before the festival. It would save a lot of time on the day itself, if we stayed here."

"Isn't that kind of a weird thing to do?" Kitabayashi piped up. Akira looked up too, and watched them carefully, though she pinked and turned her face away when Tada caught her eye.

"Nah, it happens a lot. One of my older sisters did the same when she was in high school."

"Yeah, one of my friends who is at another middle school is doing the same thing too this year, apparently." Jori, who was sitting and chatting with Fuyumi, Kaori and Eriko, added.

"Yes, it definitely happens." Eriko agreed. "I didn't think about doing the same thing ourselves. But that might be a good idea, actually. For some reason, I don't feel so good about leaving the museum by itself on that day."

Eriko got up and crossed the room to join them, and they went to a corner to talk.

"Why don't you feel so good about it?"

"It's just that…..I don't know, really. I think part of it is time, like Tsukuda-san said. And….perhaps to protect the museum, a little." Eriko frowned and sighed, frustrated. "That sounded stupid."

"No, no, I get that." It was logical to assume that if the main campus had been given free rein to hurt them and get away with it, that they would also be allowed to vandalise that which they had spent ages building up. So of course, they had to try and prevent that happening.

"Yeah, I get it too. But that just made me realise a flaw in my own argument." Tsukuda pulled a face. "How will we protect ourselves? If we are here?"

"Well, in the first place, we have to tell whoever we live with where we are? Then, isn't Kashima-san coming in on that day too? And possibly Isogai-san or Maehara-san? We can tell them, too. Then at the very least, if something does happen, we will be missed." Eriko suggested

 _If something happens then we'll be missed…I hate that we're thinking that far._ Tada looked up at the roof for a moment, then returned to their gazes.

"That's a point. And as long as we have charged phones, and adequate supplies, and flashlights, we'll be fine." _And if the ghost is there-I mean, Nagisa-san- if he decides to watch over us that night, we'll be fine, right? Won't we? Wait, why am I even thinking that? It's not as if I can go up and ask him…._

"I think so. I hope so." Tsukuda frowned. "Anyway, for practical things. We need to make sure that we have sufficient sleeping bags, or at least roll-out futons. I guess we can ask everyone to contribute, and I bet that anyone who has spares wouldn't mind bringing them in."

"Ah, the others. We should probably ask them as well, what they think. Some of them may not want to stay overnight, or they may not necessarily be allowed to."

"Then, we'll ask them at break time." Eriko nodded stoutly.

"Ask us what?"

All three of them jumped, and then stared at Ayako, who was grinning at them. Tada was the first to recover, and laughed.

"Ayako-Chan! You scared us a bit!"

"Yeah, I noticed!" Ayako stuck her tongue out. "But still, what's the scoop, huh?"

Eriko rolled her eyes at Ayako, and went to steer her away by the shoulders, walking back over to where Kaori was, ignoring the unhappy pout that the shorter girl gave at this.

"We will tell you at _break_ time."

"Awwwww…"

Tada and Tsukuda exchanged looks, and then laughed at the antics, before going to sit down. A few moment later, Hana came almost skidding up to them, joyful, Kuroba a few steps behind her, and Izzy ambling next to him too. They chatted for a while, while others filtered in.

"Uhm, T-T-Tada-kun?"

Tada looked up to see Hidaka standing next to his chair. He held something behind his back with one hand, and used the other to (uselessly) push back locks of his copper hair as he regarded Tada incredibly nervously.

"What is it, Hidaka-kun?"

"I, w-w-well….I was th-thinking about the festival and….well, your m-mother w-was a former 3E m-me-member, right?"

"Yeah….." Tada said slowly. He turned to Tsukuda, who looked just as baffled, and a little concerned.

 _Is this okay?_

 _I don't know. Let's wait and see._

"Well….I-I, erm…."

"Just spit it out, Hidaka!" Kuroba barked out. Hidaka jumped a few feet, but managed to shoot a glare at Kuroba.

"Oh, don't start that this morning!" Tsukuda groaned.

"I-I, w-well, anyway," Hidaka continued, gaining a little assertiveness. "I g-guess be-because o-of that, y-you'd w-want her t-to ha-have had a-a ch-chance to be a…part of this. So I did this."

All of a sudden, Hidaka held out a piece of light coloured polished wood about the shape and size of a paperback novel, but somewhat thinner. Tada stared at it, noting how on one side, there was a border of metal soldered on around it. And then he noticed the carvings on the wood, and he put his hands on it, looking at Hidaka questioningly. He nodded, and Tada took a proper hold of the piece of wood. Almost immediately, something jumped out at him.

 _Hinano Kitakawa (nee Kurahashi)._

"Mum?" he murmured. He took a closer look at the rest of the writing. Underneath her name, was the year of her birth and the year of her death. Underneath that, '3E of Thirty Years Ago' was written in a smaller font. And above all of that, in big block letters, the phrase 'IN LOVING MEMORY' was carved, headlining everything else.

"A….memorial plaque…." Tada looked up at Hidaka. "For…..the museum?"

"Y-Yeah. A-and y-you, t-t-too."

"Did you make this?" Hana asked. Hidaka nodded.

"Y-Yeah, t-t-though I-I had t-to l-look u-u-up the m-m-metal s-soldering techniques."

"I….but…..well, I mean…" Tada did not know what to say, and he looked down at the plaque again. It would look wonderful in the museum. He could hang it up near the door to one of the rooms, or at the entrance, near to where they'd be sticking up the evidence that Gakushuu was sponsoring them. Or perhaps it would be more fitting to put this near to where Isogai, Maehara and Megu's attraction would be placed.

"We'll put that some place good." Hana told him. Tada nodded slowly, only looking up a little, still not quite wanting to tear his eyes away from what he was holding. _Mum?_

"This is so cool, Hidaka. What made you think of it?"

"….I'd b-be stupid not to n-notice w-what happened with the ph-ph-photo a-album. And I was unforgivably stupid already. "Hidaka's lip curled for a moment, but then he remembered himself. "I-it i-isn't much, b-but I-I m-made this because…b-because…I am sorry!"

"Hidaka-kun?"

"F-for w-what I-I did, w-with t-trying t-to se-sell y-you out. I-I didn't th-think that thi-this c-could e-ever be-be-be a g-good place o-o-or even that a-any o-of y-you co-could have had a-anything i-in c-c-common w-with u-us. So-so I-I wa-wanted to get out and…I-I wa-was pre-prepared to d-do anything t-to a-achieve th-that, a-and I-I di-didn't t-think. B-but I-I was w-wrong! A-a-about a-all o-of it. S-so…I-I am s-sorry! Really, really sorry!"

"Hidaka-kun….." Tada looked his classmate in the eye, feeling floored. _I can't exactly say 'it's alright', because it hardly was. But…..what I can say is…_

"I…that means a lot. Thank you, Hidaka-kun. Knowing that is…it's….appreciated. Really."

Tada regarded the plaque again, traced his mother's name with his finger, over and over, in wistful shapes. As he did, he felt something thick and heavy inside him almost dissipate. Not every trouble of his was gone, but he was one lighter, and it was somehow so surprising and visceral that….. _I'm going to cry._ He had honestly thought that he had cried out every last tear he still had to cry when Tsukuda had come around the other Saturday, but apparently that wasn't the case, so he balanced the memorial plaque on his lap, buried his face in his hands, and gave into it.

Almost instantly, he felt Tsukuda's hands on his shoulders, while the curiosity and concern of his classmates pulsed around him.

"Tada!"

"Eh-I-W-What d-did I-I do?!"

"I don't think this was really anything to do with you, Hidaka-san. "

"Is he okay?"

"Tada-Chan, are you alright?"

"I think he will be, I wouldn't worry too much."

"What the-?"

"What do you mean 'what the', Hirigi? Haven't you ever seen a boy cry before?"

"That isn't what I meant! I just wanted to know what happened!"

"Tsukuda-san, that wasn't called for."

"Still, everyone just push off and stop staring!"

"Now that's a valid point. Crowding around won't help."

Despite himself, Tada could not help but internally chuckle at the spat he was hearing. And somehow, it helped him calm down a little, and eventually, he was able to breathe and sit up straight again. Almost instantly, Hana, who had ended up kneeling in front of him, handed a tissue to him, which he used to wipe his face.

"Thanks, Hana-Chan." He said. She nodded at him, and then he turned around to Tsukuda, and to Kuroba and Izzy, who were still standing there watching him.

"I…erm, sorry about that."

"What, exactly, do you think you're apologising for?" Kuroba raised a stony eyebrow. "Being human?"

"Ah….well….."

"Exactly, what Kuroba said!" Tsukuda told him, taking her hands off his shoulders and walking back around so he didn't need to twist around to see her. _Are you okay now?_ She asked silently. Tada nodded at her.

"Yeah, exactly!" Koujiro appeared out of nowhere and slung a lazy arm around Tada's neck in a gesture of solidarity. Taken aback. Tada blinked, taken aback, but Koujiro just laughed at him, and then used his other hand to mess up his hair.

"K-Koujiro-kun!" Tada spluttered and laughed. Koujiro just grinned again, and continued to mess around for a few more moments before letting go. At that moment, Kinomoto came into the room, Haru behind him. He was carrying a mug, which he then handed to Tada.

"I hear that sugar is good for a shock." He said calmly. Haru nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it is. I'm not strictly sure that this is a 'shock' in the typical sense, but yeah. Drink up, Tada-kun."

Tada smiled, and was just about to thank them when a chocolate bar came skidding across the table, stopped only by his arm. He blinked down at it, then looked up to see Ruko grinning at him and sitting on the table cross legged, her bag in her lap. _Erm, what?_

"As you can see, I have more than enough!" she tipped her bag forward so he could see just how many different sweets she had. Which was a lot. "So, if sugar is good for shock, then you should have that too."

"I…well…." Tada giggled at that. "Thank you. "

"Not a problem!" Kinomoto beamed. Tada took a sip of the tea, finding that it was very sweet, and very warm. _Just what I didn't know I needed_. He continued sipping, and quietly watched his class as they returned to the little groups they had congregated in before he had drawn all the attention.

"Tada-san, may I see that?" Fuyumi asked, pointing to the plaque, still sitting in his lap. Tada looked down at it.

"I'll take it, you just sit there, okay?" Tsukuda picked it up swiftly and then half-ran, half-hopped over to Fuyumi to show her, and they spent a few moments talking. At one point, Fuyumi beckoned Hidaka over, and then a few moments later, he left again to talk to Reimiya (who had just arrived with Reno), looking somewhat happier as he tried to talk to her, and it didn't take long before they, too were poring over the memorial plaque and talking about it, occasionally looking over to Tada, who nodded and smiled, just drinking his warm sweet tea as he watched them.

When he had finished the drink and has just started nibbling at the chocolate bar that Ruko had left for him, Tsukuda brought back the plaque and put it down on the table.

"At break time, once we've asked everyone about the overnight idea, we can decide where to put this." She said. "No reason to wait or anything."

"Yeah, I agree." He said between mouthfuls. He looked down at the wooden plaque, at his mother's name, then nodded firmly.

"Yeah." He repeated.

Tsukuda grinned at him, and then sat down on her own chair, and they chatted for a while until everyone else arrived and Ichijou came in. Almost immediately (and surprisingly), she noticed the empty mug and the chocolate bar that Tada was still carefully making his way through.

"Oh, Tada-kun, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks, sensei."

"Ah, that's good, that's good. Well then, children, shall we start the day?"

 **…**

At break time, they all gathered outside to talk about the overnight stay idea. Somewhat unexpectedly, every single one of them was behind the idea, albeit with different levels of enthusiasm and for different reasons. They were fairly easily able to hash out the different practicalities-telling people where they'd be, sleeping bags, and food- and so it did not take long for them to all think about safety- both their own and the museum.

"I get what you're saying, I do," Reno said after they'd circled around going nowhere for a while. "But, what's the point of putting ourselves at risk for just one night? If they were really going to physically target the museum, wouldn't they be just as likely to do so during the night between the festival."

Tada was about to respond when Kuroba interrupted.

"I doubt that." He curtly retorted. "At that point, it's not just us anymore, the festival involves our families, the public, all sorts. It would be a lot more foolish then. Especially given the way our school works with the whole festival thing. If they were really going to try something like that, their best bet would be the night before, and I'm sure they know that. That being said though, I'm not so sure that they would try something like that anyway."

"Why not?" Reimiya asked.

"They're not desperate yet." Was the simple answer.

"What's that meant to mean?" Hirigi wanted to know.

"I'm guessing it's just that they still don't somehow think that our playing field is equal." Eriko answered.

"Even with all the things that they've tried to do to us over the year so far, and even though we're still here." Tsukuda added, snorting derisively.

"Which would mean that we'll be alright, right?" Reimiya asked hopefully.

"I sure hope so." Fuyumi nodded.

"I hope I don't have to….but if the worst happens, I'll do what I can to keep you all safe." Haru piped up suddenly, looking unusually grim. Hirigi and Kinomoto, sitting either side of her, gawped at her.

"Haruka-Chan…." Hirigi eventually stuttered out.

"Then I'll step up too!" Tsukuda declared. "I can't _not_ do anything at all, and just let you do it. In fact, if I need to, I'll stay up all night!"

"Ah, for fucks sake, why are we being pushed to think of such things?! This is stupid!" Jori snapped out suddenly.

"Unfortunately, it's real." Kaori quietly pointed out.

"Hanae, you can't stay up by yourself for the entire night." Tada pointed out. Startled, she looked at him, eyes wild for a moment, before she softened, laughing sheepishly.

"No, I guess I can't. That'd be a bit hypocritical, huh?" she winked. Tada stared at her wide-eyed, then smiled fondly. _Hanae…._

"Oooh, what am I missing?" Ayako asked, somehow noticing their little moment

"None of your business!" they both said at the same time, laughing. Ayako blinked, and then giggled. The little bit of silliness was soon broken by an unexpected suggestion from Kitabayashi.

"Why not have a Night Watch rota then, if you want to keep us safe?"

Everyone stared at Kitabayashi in utter astonishment, which made him splutter out something unintelligible and look down at the table.

"I assume you mean have a select few of us take turns to keep watch during the night." Kuroba eventually decided to clarify. A still embarrassed Kitabayashi nodded at this.

"I did briefly entertain the idea myself, but I decided to dismiss it for now. However, I do think that it's a good one."

"Then why not suggest it anyway?!" Hirigi steamed. Kuroba looked loftily at him, and Tada prayed that there wouldn't be a spat.

"Can I try and be a Night Watch person?" Yamada asked suddenly. Now, everyone swivelled over to her.

"Uh….Yamada-san, are you sure?" Ruko sceptically asked. Yamada blinked owlishly.

"Why would I not be?"

"Uh…well, I…" Tada tried and gave up on finding a diplomatic way of putting things. The others looked similarly bemused, but none of them tried to say anything about it. Either way, Yamada wasn't put off.

"I want to know what it's like to do something like that, I've never done anything like that before." She declared.

"Dude, I don't think anyone here's done anything like this before." Koujiro deadpanned. Nobody responded to that.

"Yamada, this isn't just a curiosity, it's an actual, serious responsibility. You do understand that, don't you?" Kuroba asked.

"Ju-kun, that came off as a little mean." Hana whisper-scolded, tugging at Kuroba's sleeve. He looked down at her, but didn't seem too annoyed.

"The point needed to be made."

"Even so….." Tada hesitated, though he knew full well Hana had a point.

"I'll pair with Yamada then. How's that?" Azama commented calmly, interrupting them. "I certainly don't mind taking part in this, though I do not feel the fear associated with this act. Good always prevails, no?"

"Oh lucky you." Jori muttered under her breath. Azama just regarded them as calmly as always, waiting for some sort of reaction.

"I….think that works out. It might be better to do this in pairs anyway." Eriko eventually concluded. "What do you think? Yamada-san and Azama-san could be the first pair to do the Night Watch."

"Yeah, I think that works? Tada?"

"Sure, I think so. And then the three of us will take one of the shifts with someone, because we have the most responsibility of the class."

"Aaaand I am guessing that you two will pair up." Ruko was not asking this, but rather she stated it with a grin as she pointed first at Tada, then to Tsukuda. The lack of response only made her grin bigger than it already was, and she took out her phone and started to look through it, flicking pleased glances at Tada and Tsukuda as she did so. _What the….?_

"Then, Eri-Chan, I'll keep you company during your shift, okay?" Kaori asked. Eriko nodded.

"Of course. "Then she thought of something. "Is three pairs enough, or should we have a few more?"

"I'd imagine that one more, bringing the total up to four, would suffice. So decide that, then do an order. " Fuyumi announced, not looking up from where she was evidently making notes about their overnight stay. _Awesome! You go, Fuyumi-Chan!_

"Let's have Yamada-Chan and Azama-kun first." Tada decided, figuring that would be the best option, all things considered. No objections were raised to this, and so Tada gave Fuyumi the go-ahead to note this down.

"Now, another pairing, before we decide the rest of the order. So…any takers?"

Tada looked around at the faces of his friends, waiting to see who would take up the role.

"I'll do it." Yukiyama eventually stated shortly. "I'm pretty comfortable with the outside area anyway, so why not?"

"Awesome, Yukiyama-kun! Thank you!" Tada beamed. "That helps a lot."

"We still need one more person."

"I-I would say t-that I would, but I'm going t-to be up pretty early foraging for the ramen that Ichinose-san and the others are cooking. I…I think it'll be better for me to get the full night of sleep because of that. " Reimiya apologised, blushing slightly and fiddling with her scarf.

"Of course, that's no problem." Eriko kindly told her. Reimiya nodded, but still seemed to shrink a little.

"Then I'll do it." Reno decided. Everyone stared at the boy, who shrugged.

"There's loads that you can do alone now, Miya-Chan, and I sort of get that now, though it's weird. But this one thing, I'm still able to help you with, which pleases me. So yeah, I'll join Yukiyama-san."

Reimiya smiled sweetly at this, also clearly touched. Tada himself found the

"In any case, I'm not one of the full-time foragers for the festival, " Reno continued. "So I can just get Sorachi-Chan to swap with me for the first morning, right?"

"Yup!" Ruko looked up from her phone to salute Reno, before going back to look at it. "Speaking of that, Tada-Chan, Tsukuda-san, you guys should definitely take the final shift of Night Watch."

As the comment seemed to come out of left field, Tada exchanged an utterly confused look with Tsukuda before turning back to Ruko.

"I'm sorry, what? And why?"

"It's a secret!" Ruko sang out, and then winked. "A surprise. A good one, I promise. But definitely, take the last shift. I insist. "

 _The last one….so, basically just waking up earlier than everyone else, and then keeping watch until they do wake up. What's special about that time?_

"We….don't mind…." Tsukuda eventually spoke for the both of them. "But, why?"

"Yeah, why, Ruko-Chan? That's a strange thing to insist on."

"Aaand I am insisting on it." Ruko retorted. "And as I said, it's a secret. I'll tell you though, Aya-Chan."

"Oh, goody!"

Tada sweat-dropped again. _This is so weird._

After that, with a little more discussion, they decided that Yukiyama and Reno would take the second Night Watch, while Eriko and Kaori would do the third. Then, they chatted a little more, ironing out various different details about the museum and that particular night, before Ichijou came back and it was time to go back to lessons. And as Tada turned to a blank page of his exercise book and prepared to write notes, he looked at the memorial plaque-which he had put on his desk so he could look at it-and could not help but note just how satisfied he felt at the way the day's ideas had turned out so far.

* * *

 **The next chapter skips straight to the 'day before the festival' that everyone was discussing here, just so you know. But anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please leave me feedback!**


	58. Welcome to the Museum, part 11

**I PASSED MY EXAMS! I am insanely relieved by that, especially considering how some of them were total crap for me. But anyway, it's also good news for you, as it means that I'll be able to continue with the two-updates-per-week for a bit longer. Though I have put myself as available to do extra hours at work over the summer if they're short on staff, so whether this'll be consistent over the summer remains to be seen. But yeah.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. And as always, please leave feedback!**

* * *

As soon as the school day ended, everyone rushed about to put their things away and to get changed into their P.E kits. Ichijou, for her part, retreated to the staff room (which was one of the few spaces on the campus that wasn't being used for the museum), but put away their school uniforms and some other personal effects in a cupboard for them, and said she would entrust the key to Eriko when she left. Tada and some of the others put their phones to charge, some of them using portable chargers, so that they would have full battery in the night, just in case. When they had finished these little things, and were ready to start putting together the main and final parts of their museum, Seiji arrived.

"Oh, Seiji-sempai, brilliant timing!" Tada called, coming out to the front as he spotted the man through a window. Seiji blinked, bemused, as he ran a hand through his hair. For some reason, it made Tada think of the raised eyebrow Katou sometimes gave whenever one of them spotted her and called out to greet her.

"Oh, do you not like that?" he asked, though he had greeted Seiji in similar ways the few other times he'd met him and hadn't discerned an issue. Seiji sighed and shook his head.

"No, that's not it." He said. "It's just a little strange to be so readily addressed as 'sempai'."

"But that's what you are, basically." Koujiro pointed out. "Right?"

"Well yeah, but from _fifteen years ago_. Plus, do I really look like a responsible elder to you?"

"You hold down a job, do voluntary work, take care of your elderly parents, and you're here because you want to help us." Tada listed, looking Seiji in the eye. He faltered, and then Izzy spoke up.

"Plus, Li'l Aoshima-Chan here sees the good in you, which seals the deal." Unexpectedly, Izzy swung out from the cherry tree and hung upside down from the branch, pointing at Hana and making everyone startle. Kuroba, standing next to Hana, looked as if he would have a heart attack.

"Izzy, what the hell? Get down from there before you crack your skull open!"

"Ah, relax, relax, I'm fine!" Izzy jumped down and dusted himself off. A few moments later, Yamada, who had quietly been sitting in the tree and watching the proceedings along with Azama (though Tada could not remember for the life of him when they had got there), clambered down more sedately. Seiji rubbed his eyes and groaned.

"Ah, it doesn't matter. The end result is the same. So, um…where should I start?"

"Ah! I'll go help the girls who're getting the main-room items out of storage!" Koujiro exclaimed, sprinting off to do exactly that.

"The main room is the classroom, though that probably seems obvious." Tada chattered, as he led Seiji over. "The main thing we need to do is shift all the tables and chairs out. Some of them will go outside, others we'll use as stands for things within the museum as well as the indoor eating area, any excess will go in storage. Then we'll start shifting things in and around, before moving on to rearrange the other rooms."

"Ah, I see." Seiji nodded.

Everyone got down to work, shifting things, rearranging them, sticking things up on the walls and hanging things on the roof. The tables and chair that would make the outdoor portion of the restaurant as well as what would later be the snack stall were covered by tarpaulins that Tsuwabuki had acquired from Nigita, and then Koujiro, Jori, Reno and Kuroba put up a couple of gazebos that Isogai had loaned to them over the arrangement. Muramatsu had already set up the basic equipment for them to cook from in one of the storage sheds, but Haru, Hirigi and Akira looked over it all, and made sure it was clean. Tsuwabuki set up his 'lost property' section of the museum with help from Yukiyama, Azama and Kaori, and Kinomoto and Hidaka helped Fuyumi make sure the descriptions and attractions matched. Asides from that, nobody had a particular job- they just all worked at putting together the museum, and helping each other.

As Tada was sticking up the Missing Nights game poster, and Fuyumi was putting up the matching 3E/Present day photographs of Chiba and Hayami, he thought he heard a bicycle coming up towards the outside of their building, but as he didn't think anyone on site at that moment had a bicycle, he ignored it and continued. But when he turned back to Fuyumi's file to grab the descriptions from it (for she was still busy making sure things were aligned just right), he heard someone call for him in a vaguely familiar voice.

"Tada-kun? Are you here? Is it okay if I come in?"

"Yeah, sure, go on ahead." He replied. _Who is that?_ The voice, that of a teenage boy, tugged at his memory, but he wasn't sure.

"Ah, hey, Tada-kun." The owner of the voice appeared in the classroom and crossed straight over. The chattering of everyone else who was in the room working-including Seiji- didn't exactly stop, but did quieten down as they regarded the high-schooler with dark brown hair and lively maroon eyes, his dark red tie loosened and his green blazer left unbuttoned, a grey school bag slung over his shoulder and some volumes of manga in his hand. He beamed, openly and winningly.

"Yuuki-kun!" Tada exclaimed happily, recognising him now. "This is unexpected."

Yuuki shrugged and grinned somewhat sheepishly.

"Yeah, I know it was Mum you really talked to about all this. But she's been pretty busy with a deadline for one of her own series, and so she hasn't really been able to get out for anything apart from the necessary. So. It's kind of last minute, but I offered to bring the signed editions she said she would. I biked here straight after school."

"Ohhh that was your bike I heard! Right?" Ruko had sidled up next to them and now regarded both of them-especially Yuuki- with a wide, interested smile. Tada stepped back subtly and grinned, knowing that Yuuki was about to get a dose of Ruko-treatment.

"Uhm, yeah….I cycle around most places, when I can. I like it."

"I see, I see. Very nice. "Ruko beamed even more. "So then, will you tell me your name? Mine's Kuroko Sorachi, but of course, you must call me Ruko."

Yuuki was incredibly flustered, but to his credit he didn't overtly freak out.

"It's Yuuki Tachibana." He said cautiously. "My Mum is Yuzuki Fuwa."

Yuuki held up the books in his hand, and Tada watched as Ruko regarded them. Her eyes narrowed, and she tipped her head to one side, then the other. And then a huge, unrestrained grin spread across her face.

"Oh my gosh, you're Yuuki! _That_ Yuuki! Freaking bloody _hell_! I'm a huge fan of both of you and…" Ruko trailed off, and her cheeks went pink as she clapped her hands against them. Tada almost swore that her eyes became wide and sparkly. Yuuki just laughed.

"What's going on?" Seiji asked, coming over, curious. "Are you a manga artist then, kid?"

"Well, sort of. " Yuuki clarified. "Technically, I collaborate with my mother and we do some series as a team-"

"Ahh, you're the 'Yuuki' in _Yuzuki to Yuuki_ then." Seiji nodded. When Yuuki looked at him, surprised, Seiji laughed unexpectedly.

"You are, as far as I know, the only mother-son duo who have made a big name for themselves in the manga industry."

"Yup, that's right!" The still-dreamy-eyed Ruko declared.

"Their 'Paper Airplanes' series, is to die for. I totally ship Akeno and Masashi, by the way." Ruko randomly informed Yuuki.

"Ahh….well, erm…" Yuuki's hesitation made Ruko groan and cover her face with her hands.

"Oh no, please don't tell me that THEY end up brothers too!"

"I….no, but…ah, never mind." Yuuki laughed. Tada laughed too, and then turned to Seiji, noticing that he was still watching them closely, an odd look on his face.

"Seiji-sempai, are you alright?" he asked.

"Ah, nothing. " Seiji tried to dismiss him, but then abruptly changed his mind. "My sister is a fan of the _Yuzuki to Yuuki_ works."

"Your sister?" Tada recalled he had a sister on the main campus. He wondered what their relationship was like. And how to ask, if such a thing was okay

"Yeah. Every time I go around to help with my parents, she always seems to have a new volume of something or other by them. It's one of the few things I know about her, really."

"How come?" _Ah, screw it._

Seiji's face twisted up, into something that crossed between derision and pain.

"I was once a 3E student. She was a baby at the time. But, once she got older and more able to understand the fuck-up that I am, she didn't want to know anymore. And who'd blame her, really? If I was my brother, I wouldn't want to know me anymore."

"Seiji-sempai…."

"Why wouldn't you want to know yourself?" Yamada appeared by Tada's side, making both him and Seiji jump.

"Tch, who would? "

"But why?" Yamada pressed. Tada sighed.

"Yamada-Chan, don't make him talk about that stuff again."

The bullying and blackmail, the desperation, and then eventually the snapping and the prison sentence, and how that had all deadened his existence, even as he had managed to pull himself out of it in as many ways as he could, even as he remained loyal to his parents, who, even if they had failed to protect their son, had done all they could. These things, Seiji had been honest about when he had come in to see them himself. But with each word, Tada could see how it felt as if his throat was being scraped out just recalling it all. And since not a single one of them held the past against Seiji, he didn't think that Yamada was being fair, no matter what knowledge she wanted to pursue here. But she wasn't deterred, and faced Seiji head-on with that oddly intense look she got when trying to find out something.

"That isn't what I'm asking. What I want to know is, isn't there a thing that what you've done is not the same as who you are? And by that logic, doesn't that mean that what's been done to you is not the same as who you are, either? And you've had both things done to you and done by you, so neither of those are the same as who you are. I think. That's how it should be, if the other two things I said are true. So, are you some sort of exception then?"

"Okay, I think I get what you're saying, but I'm still confused." Tada stated after a few blank moments. Seiji didn't look any clearer on what Yamada was trying to say either, which seemed to frustrate her. She frowned slightly, and that was when Hana came forward.

"She's trying to drill in what I asked Isogai-san to tell you before- that you're forgiven here. Didn't he tell you that?"

"He did. I just…..it's nice, but that holds little currency here, y'know?" Seiji eventually said.

"Because family is a different matter. " Hana stated. Seiji stared at her, and then nodded slowly.

"A difficult one."

"But, you still love her. Your sister. Kashima-san." Hana asked. Seiji nodded.

"Well, sure."

"Then, it's not all hopeless. I hope." Hana concluded. But even as she said that, she sighed and looked off to the distance. Seiji looked to her and then to Yamada, who was still regarding him somewhat furiously.

"Well….yeah, maybe, I guess. You're young like her, I guess you'd think that things could so easily become okay again. "

Though the statement was very pessimistic, Seiji was softer when he said it, and indeed, some of the lines of his face seemed also to have softened. _As if he's letting a little hope in._

"So if she's young like us, that's all the reason that things would be okay, right?"

"Uhh, Yamada-Chan, I'm not sure that logic quite holds up." Tada sweat-dropped.

"Really? Why?" When nobody answered, she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Yamada-san, will you come back and help me over here?" Fuyumi called. Distracted, Yamada trotted over, and it was at that moment that Yuuki came back over, having had a chat with Tsuwabuki, Ayako and Tsukuda.

"So, I need to get home now, so I'll leave this, and…" hesitating, Yuuki turned to Seiji. "Your sister, the one who's the same age as these guys- what's her favourite series of ours?"

"Well…..um….." Seiji frowned for a moment. "I don't know the name of it, but it's like a detective story, taking place in a school? The detectives are like a bunch of students who have formed a club, but I think they all have legitimate reasons or skills to want to do that- I think one was a victim of crime themselves, and the other knows a lot about forensics anyway…I might just be making those examples up because I really don't know, but I believe that's the general premise."

"Okay." Yuuki nodded. "Tada, it won't make a difference whether you display five or six books, will it?"

Tada, who had just been handed the manga volumes, looked through them. Two were _'Yuzuki to Yuuki'_ works, while the others were Yuzuki Fuwa's own work.

"Nah, it's fine. The variety is good."

"Alrighty then," Yuuki plucked one of the 'Yuzuki to Yuuki' volumes and then opened it to the inside front page, before finding a pen and putting it to the page.

"What's your sister's name?" Yuuki asked Seiji.

"Tsukasa. It's Tsukasa."

"Okay." Yuuki scribbled something rapidly, then closed the volume and handed over to Seiji with a flourish.

"It's the first volume of the series, which I will assume she already has if it's her favourite, but I can safely say this is the only one signed by me. So yeah, give that to her as a present, if you can."

"Oh. Wow. Okay." Seiji blinked rapidly many times over, and then smiled widely. "Thank you!"

"Oooh, smooth! Do you do that a lot then?" Ruko asked, a fraction calmer but still glittering with happiness in a very anime-like way. Yuuki shook his head and laughed.

"Nah, nah. Most of the time, people don't connect me with this stuff. And though I don't hide it, I don't really advertise it either. I'm mostly just normal."

"Yep, it's true." Tada nodded. "Anyway, if you need to go, then you can go, Yuuki-kun. Thanks for coming, and say hi to Yuzuki-san for me!"

"Sure thing! Speaking of which, she said once you're less busy and she isn't drowning in deadlines, then maybe you and Hiro-Chan should come around. Have dinner or something. She'd like to do something nice for you both because, well….."

Yuuki trailed off and shrugged helplessly. Tada shrugged back, and then nodded and smiled. Yuuki grinned again, then waved at those he had been chatting to before going back outside and getting his bicycle, and cycling off.

"Wow oh wow, he is seriously cycling down those hills, huh?" Ayako said in amazement.

"If you have the stamina and ability, that's no hard feat, really." Kuroba pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true. But anyway, we've still got more to do, so let's do it!" Tada said.

"Sure, of course!"

After that, they worked busily at the different aspects of the museum. Isogai came up to check on them, and even helped they put up a few things, but apart from that there were no other interruptions, and so they managed to get the museum up. Once they had got everything up and ready, Seiji left (though not before Haru had given him a cup of tea) and then they decided to wind down, and so they sat outside, letting the cool breeze tickle them as they just chatted and laughed about different things. As they were getting takeaway pizza for their dinner, they debated for a moment as to who should go, with Kuroba eventually offering to do so, with Izzy and Hana accompanying him. He even offered to pay for all of it, but though he certainly could afford it, Tada insisted on them all putting some money towards their dinner so once that had been gathered up, the three of them went off to do that. Up until they got back, the rest of the group occupied themselves by having another almost-impromptu singalong. It wasn't the same without Hana to outperform them all or Jori's guitar for instrumentals like that one particular time, but they all enjoyed themselves (even Fuyumi, who had to be barred from singing many, many times, as she'd traumatised quite a few ears just trying to join in with one line.).

When the three got back, they had a sort-of story to tell.

"We bumped into Hasegawa's sister on the way to the pizza store." Kuroba informed them as he walked purposefully over and sat down, settling the boxes he had been carrying on his lap.

"His sister?" Tada queried. "Which one?"

"One of the elementary school ones. Older, though."

"But you weren't even there when we happened to see them!" Tsukuda spluttered. "How'd you know it was her?"

"Weeellll, I'd say that strolling on up to us and introducing herself as 'Misao Hasegawa' sold the deal pretty well." Izzy drawled.

"Ah, right, okay." Tsukuda laughed awkwardly. "Well then, what did she say?"

"Not much, actually." Kuroba said. He looked a little confused- a rare expression for him. "She just asked us if we were concerned about her brother and what we thought would happen to the school if we did win. And what we think of Kunugigaoka, E Class aside."

"They were sort of strange questions for a child who is only 11 or 12 years old." Hana mused. "But, I don't think it was such a big deal."

"Obviously, we skirted around the issue of what we think of Hasegawa, because she's his sister, but Hana is right, it wasn't such a huge deal, talking to her. " Kuroba agreed.

"That still sounds strange…." Tada mused, thinking of the girl and how carefully she had regarded them that time. "Did she seem okay?"

"Honestly, it was hard to tell." Izzy shrugged.

"I wouldn't worry." Kuroba clarified.

"Well, that's all well and good, but could you put the pizza down now, please?" Koujiro interrupted. "I am actually really, really hungry!"

"Yeah, so am I!" Hirigi agreed vehemently.

"And me!" Ayako chimed in.

"Ah, sure! Sorry!" Hana put down the boxes, and Izzy and Kuroba followed suit, though the latter rolled his eyes. Almost immediately, the boxes were ambushed, and the result of that was a few moments of chaos as everyone somehow managed to get tangled, but the situation fixed itself, and they all ate, satisfied. Haru went back in for a moment to bring out water and juice, while Ruko somewhat uncharacteristically decided to share some of her massive sweet supplies. When Ichijou exited the building, she even spent a little time with them (encouraged by none other than Haru), before leaving and reminding them excessively that if they needed help then they shouldn't hesitate to call her home number, which they all appreciated. Once they were all finished, Tada helped Eriko, Kaori and Haru clean up the mess they had made, and then everyone took it in turns to go in small groups to clean up and get ready to go to sleep. Some had brought in some kind of night clothes, but others changed back into their P.E kits instead.

"Right then, Yamada, are you ready to go on lookout?" Azama asked, poking his head around the door of the main classroom, which the girls were using as their sleeping space. Tada, who was standing in the corridor chatting with Tsukuda, watched them.

"Yup!" Yamada nodded earnestly as she bounded over to the door, then paused. "Isn't this a Night Watch though?"

"It's the same thing, Yamada-san." Fuyumi patiently explained from where she seemed to be

"Ah, right, okay!" Though her face remained much the same, her bounding became more energetic as she continued the rest of the way to Azama, holding her torch, and then the two of them left. Tada shook his head and laughed, exchanging a look with Tsukuda.

"Well, what can you do?" she shrugged and laughed. "I'm sure they'll manage much better than any of us think, though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We're all protecting each other, right? Not that that'll make me do any less, but even so, I'm starting to take comfort from the idea."

"I get that. It's like with me, trying not to worry for everyone and about everyone all the time. "

"Exactly." Tsukuda nodded vehemently. "Exactly."

There was a silent moment after that, where neither of them needed to do or say anything-they just were, and that was fine. Then, Tsukuda grinned, and started to head into the room to sleep.

"Well then, I'll see you when it's our turn to keep watch. Night-night."

"Likewise, Hanae. Goodnight."

 **…**

Seeing the two students sitting there, straight-backed and resolute in expression, torches by their sides as they looked out into the darkness, all he could think was: _but I am doing this for you._

 _Go back to sleep, children, that's where you should be. This is my job. My duty._ That was how he saw it, staying here, watching them grow. But of course, it was sort of stupid for him to think that they would have any awareness of him-how could they? They didn't know about him, didn't know how he wandered, constantly, as penance for everything he had done and everything he should have done. They didn't know.

But at the same time, they did.

It was fairly recent, and whatever was happening was mostly happening indoors, or away from the school, but somehow, the children had learnt his name. And her name. But his name, for sure. They had been so young when everything had happened, and yet, he heard their voices saying his name. Hesitantly, uncertainly, but still, his name. And then there was Yukiyama, who had wandered into the forest one lunchtime, as he tended to do. But that one time, he had stopped and looked up at the trees, and then clearly (but quietly) had asked 'Are you there, Nagisa?' At the time, he had actually been in a tree behind where Yukiyama had aimed his question. It had reminded him of Isogai earlier in the year, watering the plants while the children had been away in Kyoto.

 _"_ _I'm guessing you're somewhere over in there, huh? Maybe hiding in a tree or something. Or one of those other places we found all those years ago. Don't panic, I won't come over there and look for you, or drag you out. Just…I guess if you've been here a while you've probably been watching the children. Interesting, aren't they? Especially since it's Hinano-san's boy who's heading the efforts. Funny that, isn't it? Especially considering everything we decided? But…I guess you out of all of us would know about things spiralling way, way out of your control, eh?"_

 _Isogai's hand clenched a little tighter, still somehow keeping the note unrumpled. He took a breath, and then spoke again. He just stood silently, lost in the remembering._

Oh, he definitely knew all about things spiralling out of control, too far to even grasp, let alone handle. And everything piling up and distorting him to the point he knew he could not go back. Could not let himself taint everyone else. And yet, he was still here, still so close and hovering on the edges. And stuck, very much stuck. _I'm so scared, everyone._ If just one of the things that had gone wrong had not gone wrong, then perhaps he wouldn't be. But what had happened had happened, and now, those who should have been protected from it had now found out about it. And that was just another thing that could be placed solely at his feet.

 _What a mess this all is. What a mess._ His mind was _definitely_ a mess, because of all of this, even more so than usual. But he had promised himself that he would watch over the children this year, and so even though things were the way they were now, he continued to stand by that. And so he remained in the tree, close to the edge of the forest, keeping an eye on the building, as well as the two sitting outside it, listening to the conversation they inevitably ended up having.

"Uwah, the moon is really clear! This is great!" Yamada's voice was quiet and controlled, so as to not disturb those who were sleeping, but her characteristic enthusiasm still shone through.

"It does look rather nice, as do all the stars." Azama replied languidly. "Of course, it would do, as it's night-time."

"Obviously!"

"But remember that we're not really supposed to be moon-watching. We're watching out for anything that could go wrong."

"I know. They all said that. But why does that mean that I can't look at the moon too?"

This, Azama chuckled quietly at. Up in his tree, he silently did the same. The child had a point. He himself had admired many skies on many look-outs like this one. He'd admired skies in all sorts of circumstances, and still did.

"Ah, that's true. Nature's gifts should be appreciated more often. Still, we're working towards a noble cause, doing this, no? So that was a reminder for me as much as it was for you."

"Oh, alright."

Yamada seemed satisfied, and there was a silence for a while. A long, long while. But it was not boring for him, not really. Partially because he was long familiar with such silences-had become used to them, in fact- but also because he was all too skilled at disappearing into his head, and looking at all the memories contained within it, for better or for worst.

 _"_ _Kaede? Kaede! "_

 _Though she had told him as much on the phone, he hadn't expected to see her sitting on the ground next to someone lying there, utterly dead. Though she had not lied to him, it still shocked him to see how the poor dead person looked, of all the things that she had brought with her to the scene, pinning him down. And the way…the way he was all cut up. Brutal, so brutal. Though she had revealed instantly who it was she had just been pursing, though he could recognise him instantly, even after all these years, he did not expect to see that formidable, twisted man as little more than a meat bag, all ripped up and left to rot. Despite the dark, all of the blood shone with an almost disturbing luminosity, it looked as if every last drop had been released from his body. And…it was all over her, too. All over her. And…even with the evidence in front of him, he could not match her up with such carnage. He just couldn't._

 _"_ _Kaede?" he whispered again, aware she had not responded to him. "I'm here now. I…I called the police. They should be here soon." His words were lame, stilted, but he did not know what else to say._

 _"_ _They will? Oh, good. Good."_

 _"_ _I…I'm sorry?"_

 _She looked up then, and he noticed the blood still on her face. She wiped it away, with a dismissive, almost lazy gesture, and then her mouth stretched painfully, into the most triumphant smile he'd ever seen. And her eyes, her usually lively, warm honey-gold eyes, they had gone flat, utterly dead except for one cold, cold spark which made him shiver._

 _"_ _Kaede?"_

 _"_ _Do you see it? Do you see what I've done?" The glee in her voice pierced him, and he was taken back to another time, so long ago._ Revenge, _he realised,_ this must have been some sort of revenge. Again. _It made a certain sense, given how this man had played a role in her sister's demise back then, and the role he had played in their own defining year. But…..he scanned the body again, and what had been done to it. Not even the darker side of his instincts could stop the shudder from rippling through him, or prevent the revulsion that he felt after that ripple had reverberated through his body. And then he looked at the manic, feral being that this girl, this woman he cared for so much had become, and he knew that a kiss would not solve things this time._

"Azama-san, do you think it would be bad if I told Tada-san that the octopus-yellow blob-teachery thing probably blew up the moon, which is why it looks like how it looks now?"

He was abruptly pulled back into the present by Yamada's question, because it had hit the nail on the head so very, very well. _Ah, if only you knew._ Although, that being said, at the same time, it was far from the truth. _But either way, that moon set everything into motion._

"That….that is a bizarre question, Yamada." For the first time that he could verifiably remember, Azama sounded baffled, and taken aback.

"Why is it bizarre?"

"Because….well….what makes you believe that the creature, 'Koro-sensei' would have done something like that?"

"Well….." Yamada made a sound like she was pursing her lips and pretending to blow a bubble, before she answered.

"Arisato-san was digging, and he found some online newspaper articles about the moon, which he showed to me. They said that a 'super-creature' was responsible for the moon. That thing looks like it could be a 'super creature'. And I think the timing is right. Thirty years ago."

"I don't believe that it's right to judge based on such a superficial description."

"What do you mean?"

"You're judging 'Koro-sensei' based on the way he looks- like some sort of 'super creature', or what some might say is a 'monster'." Azama explained. "Who's to say that that's the truth?"

"But the facts…."

"Are not always facts. "

"Well then, what are they?!" Yamada demanded.

"Inconsistent, shapeshifting, bits of information to suit our needs as and when they arise. Social constructions, if you will."

"What's a social construction?!"

"Simply put, something that society constructs, usually through the things we say and don't say, do and don't do."

"Like what?"

"Everything, Yamada." Azama said sagely. "Absolutely everything."

"So is 'Ending the End Class' just a social construction, then?"

If he was being honest, he wanted to ask the same thing, listening in from as far as he was. Like he imagined most people were (and just like how the rest of the children definitely were), he found himself baffled by the things Azama came out with, but there were so many things he'd picked up over the years of his life- _This life, that already seems too long-_ he got the gist of some of it. Not that he agreed with such philosophies, but all the same, he wanted to know.

"Well, naturally. But I wouldn't say it's 'just' a social construction, because that suggests that it's a bad thing."

"But you make it sound like that!"

"Ah….that's not what I meant." Azama sighed deeply. "I mean, thoughts and beliefs are real as far as they exist in a person's head and motivate them, and speech is a reflection of those things, so of course that's real too. And Ending the End Class , is that not challenging and changing thoughts and beliefs? Are we not doing that by using speech, words, images? Of course we are. And, it's working. I much favour waiting and letting fate dictate our futures, but at the same time, it's good that this is happening. I believe that it's for a greater good."

"Oh. Oh, okay." Yamada thought about that. "But now I'm really confused."

"What about?"

"None of what you said made sense, but I still sort of get it."

 _Yamada-san, I could say much the same thing myself._ Azama seemed similarly amused, as he let out a low chuckle.

"Well, it cannot be said that that's a bad thing."

"I guess so. Hey, do you think it would be more useful if I climbed up the tree to look out? I can see more from there?"

Azama didn't answer straight away, and instead seemed to look up at the sky in all its glory for a while, thinking about it. But eventually, he answered.

"Yes, sure, why not? Will you be able to climb up yourself in the dark?"

"Of course!" Yamada sounded so offended that a chuckle escaped from him, unbidden, and he had to cover his mouth. Luckily, the sound somehow didn't reverberate very far, and he could not help but feel relieved. _I can't have everything fall apart more than it has done already._ He watched as Yamada hopped up and climbed the tree in front of the building with ease, settling in the branches that weren't particularly high, but not the lowest ones, and he was impressed, considering what she had been like at the beginning of the year. _So much, changing constantly. Can I do that, too? Can i?_

For a while, there was just a silence, which again, he was fine with, and Yamada and Azama were at ease with it too. He mostly just gazed up at the stars and reminisced, but kept himself somewhat grounded by making sure to look over at them too, to make sure they were alright. Watching over the watchers- the irony didn't escape him, and it made him smile to think of it.

Eventually though, Yamada spoke up again.

"So, should I tell Tada-san what I think, even if it might not be a fact?"

Despite the lapse in time since their last discussion, Azama apparently still remembered what Yamada was talking about, because he answered seamlessly (and cryptically, as usual).

"There isn't anything to be gained from lying or withholding the issue. That being said, it would be prudent to wait until a less critical time."

"Do you mean after the festival?" Yamada asked.

"More or less." Azama answered.

"Oh. Okay." Yamada thought for a moment. "Why are you always so calm about everything?"

"Would it better if I wasn't?" Azama returned. Yamada paused at this, and made a sound that indicated that she was thinking hard.

"No, it wouldn't be." She answered eventually. "But anyway….."

"Anyway…?" Azama prompted when Yamada didn't continue her sentence.

"I think I like your calmness. It's good. " She half-mumbled. "Is that a weird thing to say, Azama-san?"

For the second time that he could recall, Azama exhibited confusion. _That's some feat, huh?_

"I…well, I don't think it's weird."

"Good."

"But anyway, Yamada, our time is going to be up in a few minutes. Why don't you get down from that tree, and then we can go and wake up Yukiyama and Reno for their turn?"

"Hmm, okay."

Carefully, Yamada eased herself down from the tree, then trotted ahead of Azama to go back into the building. He closed his eyes and remained where he was, and felt the slight breeze that had picked up tickle his hair and push down his hood. Making sure he was settled in the tree properly, he put his hood back up again. Then, when he heard a new pair of footsteps, he opened his eyes again, and prepared to continue his own personal Night Watch of the children, just as he had dedicated himself to doing.


	59. Welcome to the Museum, part 12

"Are you excited about tomorrow, Eri-Chan?"

Eriko considered this question from her best friend as she looked into the darkness ahead of her, quietly tossing her wooden kendo sword from one hand to the other. _Am I excited?_

"Yeah, sure. I can't wait for other people to see the result of our hard work here." She answered eventually. Kaori, sitting on the steps to the entrance, chuckled softly.

"Same here." She nodded. Then, she slanted a sideways look at Eriko. "But, you kind of wish Kataoka-san would be able to see this too, right?"

"She's on the other side of the world, how would that happen, Kao-Chan? Plus, Takashita-san and Sorachi-san will take pictures, and I will too, and I'll send it to her. Perhaps do some photo-edit collage thingy, but I'd need to ask someone for help with that. "

The words came out a little forcefully, and of course, Eriko knew that Kaori was not fooled by that, so she sighed and closed her eyes for the briefest moment before regarding Kaori and smiling wistfully.

"But yeah, it would have been nice if she could come. There's something to be said for physically showing someone what you've achieved. Especially when you really respect them and stuff, you know?"

 _Respect, huh? What I thought I knew about her, and Tada-san's mum, and Isogai-san and Maehara-san and the rest of them has all quite literally been turned on its head. But even so…_

"Yeah, I know. Which is why I'm pretty stoked that Fumiko-sempai said that she'd try and get up here if she could. But you know, whatever the truth behind those photographs are, one thing for sure is that Kataoka-san and the others didn't lie about the very essence of the 3E they were in."

"Hmmm….."

Eriko considered this, and then abruptly stopped playing with the sword and stared at Kaori, bug-eyed. For her part, Kaori just chuckled, which made Eriko huff in annoyance as she replayed back what had just been said to her and tried to comprehend it.

"The…essence of what their 3E was like? What do you mean, Kao-Chan?"

"First, that the year was a defining one, that whatever actually happened, it shaped so much of who we're getting to know now. And in the case of Tada-san and his sister, the heritage they have been given."

Kaori paused a moment, tipping her head to the side and putting a finger to her lips as she seemed to look for the right words. Eventually, though, she found them.

"And then, there's the fact that their teaching arrangements _were_ unusual, whatever that unusual actually consisted of. Finally, of course, their teachers _did_ actually care for them despite who they were supposed to be. " She concluded.

Eriko didn't answer straight away, as she had been carefully scanning the area using her torch, but once the beam of light had made the sweep, she replied.

"Cared? " _That's a strange thing to say._

"Yeah, well sure. I don't really think we were all looking too closely at things, given how weird it ended up being, but yes, I think Karasuma-sen-I mean, Karasuma-san, the foreign woman and the weird yellow whatever –that-thing-is did care about all of them. "

"Ah….." Eriko frowned. _Did they? Kids our age shouldn't be all decked out in military clothes and doing training to…kill or whatever it is they're doing. Yet…they all looked happy there, didn't they? In the pictures? They didn't seem….scared. Or coerced, though they must have been._

Suddenly, something occurred to her. _The photo album, the trip guidebook. Those would have taken a whole lot of dedication to make, wouldn't they?_

"Whatever you're thinking, I assume it means that you believe I'm right." Kaori commented calmly. Eriko stuck her tongue out childishly.

"Yes, pretty much. Is Yukimura-san rubbing off on you or something?"

"Nope. Just what happens with best friends. It's an occupational hazard of having one. You _were_ warned, Eri-Chan." Kaori winked, and Eriko could not help but chuckle quietly. She covered her mouth to make sure that she didn't wake anyone up, and shook her head in amazement.

"I'm not too sure that I can argue with that one. We're definitely best friends, so yeah."

They both smiled at each other, and then Eriko returned to looking ahead of her. She twirled her torch around as though it was her wooden sword, then pointed it ahead, illuminating the path. Then, she looked to Kaori.

"Your torch is bright enough, right, Kao-Chan?"

Kaori nodded, and aimed her own torch at her feet, showing the slippers she was wearing, as though demonstrating.

"Good, then I'll turn my torch off for now. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you think we should do a circuit around the building or something? Just to be sure?"

Eriko wondered, picking up her wooden sword again now that her torch was turned off. Kaori frowned, and then shrugged, before standing up.

"I don't think so, but I'll just take a look-around each corner."

"Okay then."

Kaori nodded, and gave Eriko a thumbs up before she hopped nimbly from the steps, then walked to the right, past the cherry tree, and peered around the corner of that building. Then, she turned and walked back the other way past Eriko, and did the same with the other corner of the building, before coming back and taking her seat on the steps again.

"It's all good." She reported. Eriko nodded.

"Cool. I'll do a check myself in a little bit."

"Alright then."

There was a silence for a moment, as they both just concentrated on scanning their surroundings. Eriko in particular was prepared to put up a fight, but somehow in her mind knew that the night would be a peaceful one, that it would all be fine. _Still, no reason to be complacent._

"Do you think that they thought that they were doing the right thing?"

"What?"

Eriko blinked, before realising that she had thought out loud.

"Kataoka-san and everyone. Do you think they were doing the right thing, or at least that they believed it?" she repeated. Kaori frowned.

"I….I don't know. Eri-Chan, we don't even know what they were doing."

"But we can infer it, right?" Eriko persisted. "They were trying to kill the yellow thing- that 'Koro-sensei'."

"Yeah…." Kaori let out a breath. "Just based on what we know about them all, I'd say yes. But we don't know the full story. So I don't think I can say. Perhaps you should ask Kataoka-san?"

"I would, but I don't think I can." Eriko had had a few Skype conversations with Megu since that particular day, but she had not been able to bring up the issue at all, though it was patiently obvious that Megu knew that _they_ knew. All she could think of was the countless variations on the wistful and unhappy expressions that her mentor displayed whenever things skirted around the 3E year she'd had-specifically the things they'd clearly been trying to keep secret, she could see that now-and that was enough to stop her, every time. _Oh, but I do want to ask, I really do._

"No, that's not feasible." Eriko shook her head.

"I would disagree. " Kaori returned. "You should try."

Eriko raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Kaori shrugged.

"Well, you're the one who's most attached to Kataoka-san and all, so I guess you'd be the best judge of things in that regard. But perhaps now they'll start to think it will be better to say something now. To put it in your terms, that telling you is the new 'right thing' they must do. Because what's right and what's wrong changes over time, am I right?"

 _"_ _Besides, "Megu added, conversationally. " I'm starting to think that now, if you don't manage to change this system, then nobody will. And I think you will, because you're actually setting out to do it. Yuuma, Hiroto and I, we just thought it would happen inevitably, because of how we were different as a class. But in the end, that's not how it turned out. "_

And we've all been beating ourselves up for it ever since _, was the words left unspoken. There were other things floating around that were just as unspoken, but she didn't know what they were, as they were things clearly related to Megu's own personal history with 3E, things that she didn't know of, and most likely things that even Tada did not know of. Either way, whatever those things were, it was clearly a great contributing factor to the 'informal mentoring scheme' that Megu, Isogai and Maehara were running._

 _Eriko didn't know what to say to the sincerity that mixed itself in the raw shame and guilt she could feel in Megu. Class 3E was truly an awful creation, and the creation of it was definitely not the right thing. Both of them knew it. But Eriko didn't say anything, not wanting to accidentally make Megu recall more sad things, so she thanked her profusely, and then asked one more question._

 _"_ _So, that boy you met that time? Did you manage to help him? Did he manage to persist?"_

 _At this, Megu smiled, and she actually seemed happy, as if recalling something joyful, or rather, something that was hopeful._

 _"_ _You know what?" she said, her grin growing ever wider. "I think he did."_

"You have a point there." Eriko grudgingly conceded. "But at the same time, I still believe that it would be….too much of a risk. Or something. For them. What sort of payment would that be, if I made things worse for them all?"

"I…..I don't know, Eri-Chan. this is heavy, isn't it?"

"But it's _real_ , Kao-Chan."

"I never said it wasn't. "

The two girls looked at each other, and eventually Kaori just pulled a what-can-you-do face and shrugged.

"Perhaps for now if we just don't think about it-or rather, try to think less about it-and maybe decide how to move forward with all this after the festival?"

"Ah, yeah. Yes, actually. That's a plan. I guess."

Eriko sighed and smiled at her best friend, who grinned widely. Then, she got up, sticking her hands in her pocket.

"Say, how about you sit down for a bit, and I'll take up your post? We can swap torches as well."

"Okay, sure."

Eriko ambled over, they swapped torches, and then Kaori occupied her position while she sat on the stairs. She placed the wooden sword on her lap and held the torch in her hand, before looking to the sky. Almost instantly, her eyes latched onto the moon- a sharp, vivid crescent. One that had been permanently so for the last thirty years. _Ever since their 3E, huh? Maybe it really is connected._ But she shook her head and focused herself. She could think of what to do or ask after the festival, just as Kaori had said.

Right now, she had a duty to the 3E of the present, and she was going to fulfil it.

 **…**

For a moment, Yukiyama had no idea why he was being woken up by Kaori Fujisaki, of all people, and then remembered that he was sleeping in the school, and that he had agreed to do a shift of Night Watch. _Well, it certainly explains why I've had a better sleep so far._ Yawning only a little, he nodded once at Kaori as he extracted himself from his sleeping bag, and then retrieved his fleece. She handed him a torch, before leaving. Yukiyama studied it for a moment, and then as an afterthought, sought out his mobile phone and tucked it into his trouser pocket. Then, he got up and looked around to see if Reno had been woken up, and once that had been confirmed, they carefully left the room, making sure not to wake any of the other boys.

When they got outside, Reno promptly chose to stand in front of the cherry tree, leaning against its trunk. Yukiyama scanned the grounds, and eventually sat himself down on the entrance steps. Neither of them said anything to each other for a while, but Yukiyama didn't mind that too much. Briefly, he thought of listening to music, but dismissed that as stupid-after all, keeping watch was a lot about _hearing_ things as well as _seeing_ them.

 _I wonder what he has heard, throughout this year._ It was logical that their ghost, if he really had been hanging around, would have heard some of the things they had been wondering about and planning for and chatting about and just generally saying. So many things. And Yukiyama could well imagine that the ghost would have been watching them whenever they were in the forest, whether that was because of their hide-and-seek P.E lessons or because they were seeking some sort of refuge, or trying to do something clandestine in peace (like Hidaka, that weird child, whom Yukiyama would never really understand, not really). Or even like him, just enjoying the solitude. But the ghost had never really meddled with them, not really. He had just kept watch over them, and let them get on with things. No interference or judgement. And Yukiyama had respected that, he could understand that, because hadn't he always wanted to be able to keep to himself, be himself, heal alone?

And yet now…on that CD of fun, preppy, rousing songs recorded by a bunch of fourteen and fifteen year olds many years ago, he had recognised the ghost, this mirror of himself, so easily and had then given it up to the others. And he knew that the ghost would have heard them talking about him, bandying his name around, trying to figure out why he had become a ghost. Hell, even he himself had tried to call for him in the forest-quietly, but still, he had asked a direct question of him. _Oh, what a hypocrite I am._ He had been so annoyed at people trying to search out the ghost, back when he had been singing aloud, and yet what had he just done? The exact same thing.

Thinking of this, Yukiyama gripped the torch tightly, practically feeling his knuckles go white. _I hope you haven't gone. I won't directly ask you this time, you can stay in the shadows if you so wish, but I hope you're still here._ He turned his head so he could see the beginnings of the forest, trying to imagine that he was still there, somehow. Perhaps high up in a tree, flattened against the trunk and branches to avoid detection, or just deep in the foliage. _Still watching over us._ As much as Yukiyama hated himself for exposing the ghost, he still hoped that he was there watching over them, just as he had been doing before they had found out about him. _Ah, none of this really makes sense._

After a moment, Yukiyama saw no point in staring at the forest anymore, and decided to return to facing straight ahead, and as he did, he caught Reno's eye.

"Are you alright?" Reno raised an eyebrow. Yukiyama gave him a cool look, but did not say anything. Reno didn't either, and there was soon a sense that they were both waiting for the other to give up and say something-a staring competition, but with nobody actually staring. A saying competition. Or something like that. Yukiyama didn't really know, or care for that matter. But in the end, it was Reno who caved.

"Do you want a snack or something?" he asked. Yukiyama stared at him.

"Are we having a midnight feast or something?"

"It would technically be a slightly-past-midnight feast, and more of an early-morning feast." Reno teased. When Yukiyama just stared, he sighed deeply and shook his head.

"But, it's literally just a snack. Look." Reno pulled a packet of cheese biscuits out of his jacket pocket, which reminded Yukiyama that he had his own fleece to put on. Unrolling it, he shrugged it on, and then held his hand out.

"Okay, I'll take it. Thanks." He said, somewhat awkwardly. Reno nodded as he gave it to him, then pulled out his own packet of biscuits. He opened his carefully, then picked out a small bunch and put them all in his mouth at the same time. Yukiyama opened his own packet, but only picked out one, and nibbled thoughtfully at it, as he watched the darkness of the surroundings, looking for whatever menace might spring out (if any would). _It would be nice if Chihiro was here, we could watch the stars together, to pass the time. No doubt she'd try to baffle me with some night sky related literary references, but I'd like that, too._

"Say, are _you_ alright?" Yukiyama noticed Reno had an odd look on his face as he shovelled through the biscuits. Reno startled, and then blinked rapidly a few times at Yukiyama, before shrugging.

"Just thinking of Miya-Chan, if she's okay and stuff."

"She's safely asleep with the other girls." Yukiyama pointed out, though a little more bluntly than he had intended. Reno nodded.

"Yeah, I know that much. I'm not worried a-" Reno broke off, and started again.

"Actually, I lie. I am worried about her. But that's just the way things are, you know. I know full well she's a brave kid, and she's been showing that more and more this year….but yeah, that's just the way things are, when you care about someone. When they're your family. You know?"

"Not particularly." If 'family' meant his flesh and blood-his mother and father- then he didn't think that he really did know. _But if talking about Chihiro, or her brother, or possibly even the rest of this class, then perhaps….maybe…._

"Oh?" Reno tilted his head, curiously. Yukiyama didn't answer, and after a moment, Reno took the hint.

"Ah, forget I asked." He laughed. "None of my business, right?"

"Pretty much." Yukiyama blurted out. Reno nodded soberly, and then turned away. They stayed like that for a moment, the silence between them broken only by the sounds of the night, and that of their biscuit packets. It was oddly nice, but something about it made Yukiyama restless, and eventually he stood up.

"I'll take a circuit around." He announced. Though his voice was quiet, because of the night, it was enough to make Reno startle.

"You what?" once he had recovered, Reno looked baffled. Yukiyama stifled a laugh.

"Around." Yukiyama gestured. "A full circle. Just in case. You'll be fine on your own, right? You can scream if anything happens."

"Ah…yeah, I guess…."

Yukiyama was satisfied with that, and so he set off. Somehow, it was a relief to be walking by himself, just as he always found it a breath of fresh air when his father sent him out to buy things at night. He had never been too afraid of the dark, in any case.

He took his time as he circuited the building, not just because he was looking around everything, but also because he just liked the idea of ambling around. He regarded the gazebos and the tables being covered by them, studied the flowerbeds-enjoying how they looked in the dark of night-and stepped back a bit so he had a sort of reasonable view of the roof, and scanned that. But otherwise, he just ambled. In the meantime, he even finished the packet of cheese biscuits, and folded the packet carefully before sticking it into his pocket.

When he got right around to the back of the building, he paused for a moment, and turned his head to the sky. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he sighed. The packet in the pocket scratched at his hand, but he just curled his hand into a fist and flattened it. In his other pocket, his hand curled around his mobile phone, as though it was a talisman or something. A breeze went by, tickling his face, and he breathed it in, before letting that breath out in another sigh.

 _I wonder if we'll get any answers._ Once again, his thoughts came back around to discovering the ghost, and the other secrets. _Part of me really wants to know, to know what happened with them. Why Nagisa ended up as our ghosts. I could ask Chihiro to tell me….but would that be right?_ Even if he didn't care about his family, he knew other people did. And it was fairly obvious that the family that Tada and Hiro had happened to be one of the better ones, especially on the 3E side of things. And he had seen for himself how the revelations had knocked them every-which-way. It was almost brutal. _No,_ he corrected himself, _it IS brutal._

"Ah, what do I do?" he asked softly, the words disappearing into the night. He recalled the song that the ghost had sung, he remembered the photographs and the 'thank you, Koro-sensei' written on the back of one, he thought of the way Tada had cried when faced with the memorial plaque that Hidaka had made, and over and over, he brought to mind Hiro's face as she struggled to express what she thought, switching constantly between spoken word and signing, unable to decide on which medium of communication was better. How, though after a point he still couldn't understand what she said when she switched to sign language, he tried anyway, so that he would know what to say, or at least do, in return. To help her, even if it was just a brief, short-lived effect. _Because I want her to be able to count on me, still. But I just don't know how to help with this. This is beyond me._

"Wait, what are you _thinking_?"

Another pointless, soul-searching question faded into the night, and another thought came to mind-that of the property-section newspaper clippings he had been collecting, the money he had been saving over all this time. _My ticket away from him._ Doubts hadn't stopped him from pursuing that, so why should confusion make him try and give up on this? _Because I'm not used to this, this caring about others. Even though I've been doing it for most of the year now._ He sighed again, heavily. _I'll just need to figure it out. That's all that can be done, really. Do what I've been doing so far, and hopefully some more answers will fall into place._ With that, he pulled himself together, and continued his way around, still scanning everything.

When he got back to the front, he nodded at Reno, and sat back down on the steps.

"So, is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Yukiyama replied. "Since you were silent, I presume that you were fine too."

"Well, obviously."

"That's always good. Guess there might not be anything to worry about, in that case."

"Doesn't mean we can be complacent, though." Reno pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. I know." Yukiyama flapped a tired hand. Reno smiled kindly.

"It's okay, Yukiyama-san, I wasn't telling you off."

"I know."

"Well, that's good."

They did not talk much after that, not really. Instead, they both just sat there and kept watch, looking up at the sky a lot, admiring (or, perhaps fearing) the sight of the moon. When it was finally time to wake up Tada and Tsukuda, he was glad to be able to go in, and soon as he was able to go back to sleep, he did. And though all sorts of thoughts and questions about who he was trying to be and what he could do about things danced through his head, he still managed to have a better sleep than he'd ever had at home.

* * *

 **ARGH EPISODE 24! I mean, as a manga reader I knew it was going to happen...but somehow, seeing it animated and in colour with everybody's voices and the music and everything just amplified it all so much. So many feels :( :( I'm thinking of writing another poem about that scene, now that the anime has made it fresh in my mind again. I don't know where I will start though.**

 **Anyway, this chapter's a tad shorter than some of the other recent ones have been, but it was kind of hard to find a good place to cut it off. Which is strange, because usually whenever I have issues with ending a chapter they always end up long. Very strange. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please do leave feedback!**


	60. Welcome to the Museum, part 13

The first thing Tada and Tsukuda did when they went out for Night Watch was to do a quick circuit around the school building to make sure nothing was lurking nearby (or rather, nothing that wasn't the ghost). Yukiyama had whispered the idea to Tada when waking him up, and then when Tada went to get Tsukuda, he had told her of this, and she had agreed vehemently. So that is what they did. Once they were satisfied with that, though, they occupied the steps outside the main entrance, sitting close together.

"Ah, now the time has come, huh?" Tada mused. "The festival, at long last."

"Oh god, yeah. It feels like we've been working for absolutely AGES." Tsukuda exclaimed in a whisper, pulling a face at him.

"I hope it ends up being worth it though." She added.

"It will be. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah. " Tada nodded, looking straight ahead. "Yeah."

 _But will everything else that comes after that be worth all of this?_

"What's wrong?" Tsukuda picked up on his tone almost instantly. "What are you worried about?"

Tada shook his head, but didn't try to fob her off with platitudes or insistences that he was fine, that everything was fine. They had come too far for that. So, he reached out and started to play with her hair-left down and flowing-while he strung together words to explain what it was he was thinking about.

"I'm not worried about the festival, really. At this point, I think we've done all we can, and it's a matter of how it actually unfolds. And even that itself, I have some sort of faith in. But…after the festival. The stuff that comes afterwards...I'm trying to visualise it, but it all seems blurry. Abstract, kind of. I don't know how to deal with it."

"It's not as if we need to have our futures mapped out right now though." Tsukuda pointed out. "But that's not what you're talking about."

"Well, not completely. I guess I was thinking about that too. I mean, look how long we've spent surrounded by the futures that others like us have been building…."

"Yeah….it's crazy, isn't it, some of the things that some of the 3E alumni have done and achieved?"

"Very. And then there's me, one of what will hopefully be the last 3E, and I don't have a _clue_."

Tsukuda turned slightly to look at him and pulled a face.

"I wish I could commiserate with you, but really, I can't. I have at least two things I know I want in the future. Be with you, and become a lawyer. Prosecution lawyer, specifically. Basically a 'Protector of the Small' in the courtroom. Though if anyone apart from you calls me that I _will_ deck them."

"Hanae…"

They sat in silence for a while, and then Tsukuda frowned at him, looking baffled.

"Tada, what are you doing with my hair?" the words were incredulous, but there was a laughing note to them. Grinning sheepishly, he let go, and placed his hands on top of his torch, which he had left balanced atop his knees.

"I just like your hair. But I'm guessing that's a bit distracting, huh?"

"Only a bit…." Tsukuda teased, and then giggled at him, covering her mouth so she wasn't too loud. After a few bemused moments, he found himself quietly chuckling too.

When Tsukuda had calmed down, she reached over and covered one of his hands with her own, and grinned. Tada blinked at her, and her grin became wider, and she leaned in a little.

"Is _this_ distracting?" She asked playfully, holding his gaze.

"Hmm, maybe…" Tada pretended to think about it, even as he felt himself heat up a little bit. "Meh. I like that sort of distraction."

"Well that's a good thing, because I do too."

Tsukuda straightened, but still covered his hand with hers, and they both had to look away from each other for a moment so that they didn't burst out into laughter. Eventually though, they managed to pull themselves together.

"What are we like, eh?" Tada said, shaking his head in amazement. Tsukuda pulled a face and shrugged. They didn't say anything for a moment after that, and just sat in the comfortable silence of the night, watching their surroundings. Eventually though, Tsukuda restarted the conversation they'd been having before they'd decided to try and 'distract' each other.

"So, what are the things you know for sure you want?"

"Be with you, and become a father."

Just as he had predicted, Tsukuda blinked at him in confusion. Tada sighed and closed his eyes, pulling himself together. He was used to such a reaction from people who asked him about his aspirations. He was fully aware of the fact that his dreams were not the same as other kids' dreams.

"What makes you want that?"

Tada's eyes flew open again, and he stared at her. She tilted her head, and met his eyes, and though she was still obviously confused, she didn't seem particularly weirded out. _Thankfully._

"It's different. Tell me the story behind it." She persisted. "There's got to be one, right?"

"Ehh….I don't really think that there's a story behind it myself. But even in elementary school, if someone asked me what I wanted to be when I was older, I used to give that answer. I'm not sure where, exactly, it started. But…I've always thought that my family-Mum, Dad, Hiro, my aunts- was just, well, the best thing ever, and being surrounded by them, as well as the 'family' that Mum created from her 3E class, made me feel pretty special. And while I've always been part of it and never thought too deeply into it, I guess at some point in my childhood I looked at them and thought 'I want to make something like this, too'. And then eventually that morphed into me deciding that I wanted to become a father. So yeah."

Tsukuda didn't say anything at first, and then she curled her fingers around his hand, and squeezed slightly, not letting go, and then leaned her head against his shoulder.

"That's lovely….It seems like between us then, we've got a life mapped out."

"Yeah, I guess. But….I don't have a clue about a job or anything like that. And well, I can't just have a family and expect the pieces to just fall into place, just like that. I mean, even if you're working, I can't just expect you to shoulder everything, what wi-"

"Okay, firstly, calm down. Finer details like that, we can figure out later. We're freaking _fifteen_. "

Looking down at her, it was hard to tell if she was blushing, even with the clearness of the night and the light of the torches they had (though it wasn't as if they were shining the torches on each other's faces). But she sounded a touch embarrassed. Not that he could blame her.

"Which sort of brings me onto my next point." She continued. "You don't need to have everything figured out right at this moment, do you? It's not like a career is everything….though that being said, it's possibly helpful if we did have an idea for when we have careers counselling. But still, save it for later. You've got enough on your mind now. "

"After. After the festival." _When Hiroto-san and the others will tell us what those photographs and things mean._

"Yeah, after. At least that's one thing that you can look forward to, rather than dread. Well, not 'look forward to' per se, but you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Tada let out another sigh. "Thanks, Hanae."

"Mhm."

They were silent for a few moments, and then Tsukuda raised her head, and stretched her legs a little, before regarding him.

"Let's do another circuit around, just in case."

"Yeah, sure."

 **…**

When they sat back down, the sky was starting to get a little bit lighter.

"Looks like it's going to be morning soon." Tada commented. Almost immediately he realised his mistake and mentally facepalmed.

"The proper morning, I mean." He corrected. Tsukuda sniggered.

"I could practically see your thought process there." She grinned at him. He pouted, and poked her shoulder as they sat down. Almost as soon as they did though, he heard something behind him. Instantly, he whipped around and stared at the door, frowning. Even with the sky lightening, it was still dark, so he could not see all that much. Frowning, his gaze travelled to the front facing windows, and he stared, but could not see any traces of movement or activity.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Tsukuda, eventually sure he was hallucinating. But to his relief, she nodded.

"Yeah. But I have a feeling it was Ayako or Kuroko watching us." She deadpanned, pulling a face. This time, Tada face-palmed for real.

"Bloody hell's teeth, why?" he stifled chuckles, but at the same time remembered Ruko's insistence that the two of them take the last shift of their Night Watch. _Nothing has happened, particularly, so I wonder what that was all about._ Once again shrugging to himself, he turned back and sat on the steps-and his breath was taken away.

"Wow….." next to him, Tsukuda exhaled in awe, echoing his own reaction to the vivid pinks and oranges that were staining the sky, blotting out any last traces of the night. At the edges of this explosion of colour were a few hints of the light blue the sky would take on for the rest of the day, but at the moment, what they were currently witnessing was a sunrise of the very best kind. Quietly, he reached out to take Tsukuda's hand without looking, and when he found it, gripped tightly, and she did the same back. Neither of them said anything as they continued to watch the sunrise. _Beautiful. This is beautiful._

They watched it for as long as they possibly could, but when the sky was more blue than pink and orange, they stood up with some reluctance and prepared to go in, and that's when they noticed the sounds of most-if not all-of the rest of the class up and about. Just as they exchanged baffled looks- _Everyone's awake already? How long have we been standing here?-_ Kinomoto came by with Tsuwabuki, having apparently come around from the back entrance, and started to water the plants.

"Good morning, you two! I trust everything was fine over the night? Well, early morning." Kinomoto asked cheerily.

"Yep, as far as we watched, everything was fine. " Tsukuda declared.

"Presumably, since we weren't waken at any other time, the same went for the other shifts." Tada added.

"Ah, that's good." Tsuwabuki nodded.

"Yep, it is." Kinomoto added. Then, he paused his watering to regard the two of them. "And you two have no doubt picked up on the fact we're all already awake."

"Yeah. Sorry about that, we're going into cha-"

"It was deliberate. " Tsuwabuki butted in. Tada blinked at him. _What?_

"I'm sorry, what?" Tsukuda was clearly not any less baffled. Kinomoto smiled appealingly, and stepped into explain.

"We left you two-and Eriko-san, actually-be for a while. She won't admit it, I suspect, but it was Ruko-san's idea that something nice should be done for all three of you, being our class representatives and all."

"Ah…and?" Tada thought he was starting to understand, but felt like he was missing something.

"So, we decided to get up a little early and do things before you. I mean, some of us are early birds anyway, so it was no problem. But the idea was that you three would get a little time to yourself. Ruko-san figured that with the night shift, someone was going to get to see the sunrise. And since that's a 'potential romantic moment' she decided to push for you two having this last shift."

"As for Eriko-kun, we've just let her have a little extra sleep, in comparison to us. She'll probably have woken up by now, though. Easier thing to do than letting you two have a little romantic moment-"Tsuwabuki pulled an awkward face for a moment. "But still, the same reasoning was behind that, too."

"Ohhh, so that what Kuruko's big deal was!" Tsukuda exclaimed. Kinomoto nodded and beamed.

"Yes, pretty much. So, did you enjoy it? The sunrise?"

"Oh yes, very much!" Tada exclaimed. _All the more, now I know this._ "Where is Ruko-Chan? I need to thank her."

"I second that, but like Kinomoto said, do you really think that she'll admit to orchestrating all this?"

"Ah, good point. Still, I'll thank her anyway. But anyway, let's clean up and change and stuff-there's a lot to do."

"Roger that!"

The next twenty minutes or so were a blur of changing and setting up and getting things ready. Muramatsu trekked up and corralled Haru, Hirigi, Akira and those who would be foraging for the ramen supplies that morning (Ruko, Jori, Reimiya, Hidaka), while Yoshida came along and sorted out the carts with the help of Koujiro, before they took them down. Tsuwabuki added final touches to his 'lost property' section, while Kinomoto made sure the flowers were neat (he also picked some small bunches to put in glass jars as decoration for the café tables). They made sure they had all the cutlery they'd need out, and that the tables were neat. Fuyumi made sure that all the signs-whether ones part of the museum itself or those advertising prices-were neat and in order, while Kuroba and Izzy tested the sound system Oshiro had helped them with. Breakfast was more or less snack-type foods grabbed and munched on the go, but nobody minded too much.

As Tada chomped through a cereal bar as part of this on the go breakfast, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and without properly looking at who was calling, answered it.

"Moooooorning, Tadacchi! Figured you'd all be up and early. Put me on loudspeaker, won't you?"

"Good morning to you too, Kou-kun? I'll do that, sure. Are you on speaker at your end?" Tada asked as he pressed the button, hearing the sounds of instruments being tuned (or at least what he figured was instruments being tuned).

"Yup, that I am!" Kou's voice announced cheerfully. Tada held the phone out so that those in the classroom with him could hear.

"Ah, is that Akabane-san?!" Ayako asked, recognising the voice and stopping in her tracks.

"Oh, that it most certainly is, Ayaya! Who else is there? Yukki-boy, Yukki-girl? Tsukun? Kurosuke? Zammy? Zaya? Daichuu? Kino-pon?" Kou asked.

"Azama-kun and Kinomoto-kun are outside the classroom, actually, but you guessed right with everybody else." Tada laughed. Tsukuda giggled beside him.

"Good morning to you too, Akabane-san." Fuyumi called from the other side of the room, where she was conferring with a rather bemused Tsuwabuki. "I hope you are well."

"Oho, yes I am, Yukki-girl, thanks for asking. What about yourself?"

"I am fine, thanks."

"Akabane-kun, who are you talking to so loudly?" a male voice asked on Kou's side of the line. Tada frowned, recognising but not being able to place the voice, but Kou's response soon cleared it up.

"Mattsun, don't you remember Tadacchi and his class, when they came to visit us? Their school festival is today too, you know."

"Ahh, is it now?" Matsunaga asked calmly over what sounded like a gaggle of girls entering the room that they were in. "Well then, I hope it works out for you all."

"Thank you very much, Matsunaga-kun!" Tada replied. As he did, he noticed that Ayako was taking a call, one which made her jump up and down and grin happily, which distracted his attention, such that he almost didn't notice Kuroba cross the room and stand next to him, eyeing the phone with some trepidation.

"Why, exactly, are you calling us, Akabane?" the redheaded boy asked.

"Ahh, it's basically what Mattsun said. To wish you all luck. I really wish I could be there to support you all, but unfortunately our concert band must serenade the masses today, so I can't skip and hop on a train to you all. Or I would have. You would have too, right, YoriYori?"

"Kou-kun! Don't call me that in public!" Tada chuckled, recognising Yoriko's voice immediately. Tsukuda poked him in the side, and when he looked at her she mouthed 'When did she start calling him by his given name, 'kun' or otherwise?'. Tada shrugged at her and pulled a face- _I have no idea either-_ , then returned his focus to the call, where Kou was pointing out that strictly speaking, the call was not 'public' as such, but in such a light-hearted and silly way that it wasn't a particularly helpful point to make at that time.

"Hey, Kou-kun, is there something you haven't told me yet?" Tada interrupted teasingly. Kou paused mid-sentence. But Kou being Kou, he clocked the meaning more or less instantly.

"Aha, about that, I'll tell you later, Tadacchi. Perhaps. But anyway, I should go, and you're probably more than a little bit busy and all, so I'll sign off now! And like I said, good luck!"

"Thank you!" Tada said. A couple of the others said the same, and then Kou hung up. Almost as soon as he had though, another call came in, this time from Rio.

"Aunt Rio!"

"Yo, Tada. Guessing you're all doing last minute prep and stuff, right?"

"Yeah, sure, but I have a minute. What's up?"

"Ah, nothing much, I just wanted to say that I'd be thinking of you today. Hope that it all goes well and all. And yeah." Rio laughed for a moment. "Show them what you're made of."

"Sure thing, Aunt Rio! Thank you very much! Bye for now!" Tada ended the call, and faced his quizzical classmates.

"Aunt Rio just called me, wishing us luck." He explained.

"And I just got off the phone with Aida-san!" Ayako proclaimed. "She said the same thing."

"Oh, that reminds me!"

Startled, everyone turned to Fuyumi, who carefully went back across the room to her bag, and rootled around for a moment, before getting her phone and checking something.

"Ah, yeah, this voicemail. I was about to show it to you all when I spotted that those photographs were crooked." Fuyumi gestured to one wall, but as all the photos were perfectly straight, this was not a particularly helpful endeavour. When she noticed the blank expressions of everybody else, she reddened a bit, and found the message.

"It's from Sayo-san," Fuyumi explained, just as the message started to play:

"Ah, morning, Fuyumi. I figured you'd be up early anyway, but perhaps it's too early. Or that you're busy enough that you're not paying attention to your phone. But it doesn't matter. Just pass this on to everyone else when you get it. I just wanted to say…well, good luck. I honestly, seriously hope that this goes well for you all. Watching your project online over the year so far, I'm pretty impressed, and then getting to meet you and be part of this museum just made me feel that even more. Genuinely, I am impressed. And a little jealous. I sometimes wonder if things would have been different if I had come up with a plan that included my whole 3E, and not just decided to worm my way into the high school via the transfer students' exam and then attempt to work up the system to overthrow Asano. Perhaps then, you wouldn't even be here. But you are, and you're doing this, and I will never stop thinking it is great. So, from 3E student to 3E student, I hope you all win, and I look forward to seeing that happen."

The message ended with a click, and Fuyumi shut off her phone. A silence fell over the room, and they all looked at each other, no doubt thinking similar things. _The weight of everybody's hopes is a heavy one,_ Tada thought. _But, it's not like I can't carry it. That, and I'm hardly carrying it alone._

"Well now!" Tsukuda clapped, allowing them to blink themselves awake from introspection. "We better continue getting this show on the road, right?"

"Yeah!"

 **…**

"Kei, are you finished changing yet?!"

"Yes, almost, don't eat me!" Asami could practically hear Kei's eyes rolling from behind the door, and she stifled a laugh.

"Well, hurry up!" she retorted, as she straightened her bag strap and waited for Kei. Finally, the first day of the festival had arrived. She could not wait to see how Hana looked when she delivered Kei to their class, how she would look knowing that he had come voluntarily (more or less). _I just hope that he doesn't back down._ She knew logically that it was a big leap from going downstairs for dinner to going back to the place that one had once hated the most when a hikkikomori, but even so, with all her heart, she hoped that Kei would find a spine of steel and go through with things. _Not just for Hana, but for me, too._

Her thoughts ground to a halt as Kei came out. She raised an eyebrow. Somewhat surprisingly, the clothes he were wearing were actually presentable. A long-sleeved plain white t-shirt, navy blue chinos, black socks, and a red fleece. All the clothes were neat, and in good condition, as was the small khaki backpack he had unearthed from somewhere and that he was now carrying in his hands. He had made an effort to make his hair seem at least a fraction less tousled, as well. All in all, his surface appearance was one of 'normal'. And yet, a lump rose in Asami's throat, for somehow, looking 'normal' made Kei seem so much more vulnerable than when he was clad in pyjamas and hunched over his computer keyboard.

"What? Is there something wrong with how I look?" Kei asked with a touch of belligerence.

"No, not at all. Come, we need to have breakfast and get out of here." She replied, a little gruffly, not wanting him to see her fears and waver. She strode ahead and clattered down the stairs, and Kei followed contemplatively.

When they got into the dining room, their mother was just finishing breakfast and putting things away, but she whirled around and stared at the two of them.

 _"_ _Asami! Dinner is ready!"_

 _"_ _I'm coming!" Asami yelled back, already halfway outside her room. But she did not go straight down, as she usually would. Instead, she stopped at Kei's door, and pushed it open._

 _"_ _You coming?" Though she said it as a question, they both knew it was anything but. Cautiously, Kei turned away from the computer and looked at her. They exchanged a look, and he bit his lip. Without saying anything, he turned off the screen and got up. Slowly, he took one step, and then another. Asami wanted so badly to shriek at him to hurry up, but didn't want to ruin things. But in any case, he reached her surprisingly quickly._

 _"_ _Okay." He closed his eyes, swallowed visibly, then took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. "Okay, let's do this."_

 _Asami led the way, as if giving a tour, and so she was the first into the dining room. Determined to act normal, she headed straight to her normal seat, just as her mother came in from the kitchen._

 _"_ _Asami, before you sit down, do you think you could take the tray up to-oh! Oh my gosh…Kei?"_

 _Their mother's hands flew up to her mouth as she watched Kei shuffle in hesitantly. He looked around the dining room as though he had not been in there for ages-which was accurate-and eventually his eyes focused on their mother. Asami sat down, and gripped her seat with her fingers, feeling her knuckles going white as she stared. The silence stretched almost painfully as she watched their mother watch Kei, and Kei watch their mother. They all seemed frozen, until eventually, Kei waveringly and awkwardly broke the silence._

 _"_ _Uh, hi. What's for dinner today?"_

 _Promptly, their mother burst into tears._

In the present, their mother just took a few deep breaths in.

"You really are….you did come down yesterday, huh? I was wondering if I was dreaming it, yesterday."

"No Mum, you weren't." Asami reassured. Their mother nodded distractedly.

"Yes, yes. You're….going back there today, aren't you? That's what I remember you two telling me. To see Hana's class's attraction."

"It's a museum." Kei stated blandly. Asami gave him an incredulous look that he was utterly oblivious to (that, or he was choosing to ignore it). _That's not what you say!_ But their mother didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, well. I'm not sure if this isn't pushing things too far-if you're getting better, I don't want all of that to be undone and all….but….you're going, aren't you, Kei?"

"I am."

"I see. Are you sure that Asami isn't forcing you into this? You can say no to her, you know, if you're afraid. Nobody will judge. "

"Mum!" _But what if she is right? What if this is too much?_

"I'll try anyway." Kei said simply, before their mother could go on. "I….do want to try."

It was a simple, neutral response, but their mother was pleased with it, if the fact that some of the fear draining from her face was an indicator of 'being pleased'.

"Well, I've left you a bottle of water, and some money, if you're going to buy food. Also, make sure you take the memo I've left for you. It has my numbers, which I don't think you have in your phone, as well as Shuuichi-san's. If this….this is ends up too much for you and you need help, then you can call either of us, okay? And Asami, make sure he takes those things, okay?"

"Yes, Mum." Asami wanted to roll her eyes and say something cutting, or at least wearily sarcastic, but seeing their mother cry like that the night before had been…an eye-opener for her, so to speak. _I didn't even consider it, what Mum would have been feeling, what with Kei being like this for so long._ She sighed, and went to fix some toast for the two of them, leaving their mother to fuss over Kei for a few moments longer, before leaving for work.

"Okay then, I'm off. Take care, both of you! Asami, make sure you look after Kei the best you can!"

"Sure!"

They did not say much as they wolfed down breakfast-there was still a long way to go as they figured out where they both stood with each other asides from their plans for surprising Hana. But it wasn't awkward, as such, and Asami was almost able to feel as if things were like they were before, before 3E had interfered.

Once they had finished, she cleared up and sent Kei to wash his mouth and get his coat, trusting him not to balk and hide in his room again. Sure enough, once he had finished, he came straight back down, and once Asami had made sure they both had everything they needed, he still remained there, clearly afraid, but refusing to retreat. _Good, this is good._

"Okay," she proclaimed once her shoes were on. "Are you ready to go?"

Kei hesitated, fear flickering over his face as he stared wildly at the door, but then a flash of the rebellious boy- _my big brother-_ he had once been flickered across his face, and he nodded determinedly.

"Yes."

 **…**

Their first visitors to the museum arrived five minutes before they were ready to open, but nobody minded, least of all Hana. They-a man and a little girl- came walking up the hill holding hands, and when they got closer, Hana immediately recognised the successful baseball player Tomohito Sugino, and though she hadn't met the little girl, from her moon face, sweet brown ringlets and wide eyes that were the same lilac-blue as her father's, she knew her to be 10 year old Ranko, the youngest Sugino daughter.

"Good morning! We're bit early, aren't we? Sorry about that!" Sugino called as soon as he got there. Ranko hid behind his legs and peered out, eyes searching, but a little vacant.

"No, no, it's not a problem." Hana shook her head. "Do you want to come in?"

"Yeah, sure-oh hey, Tada-kun!"

"Tomohito-san!" Tada exclaimed, coming out of the door.

"Hey there, Tada-kun. You holding up alright?" Sugino asked breezily. Tada nodded.

"Yeah, I am. "Then, almost immediately, he was glomped by the child, who, clearly recognising Tada, had come out of hiding and had a huge, unrestrained grin on her face.

"Taccha! Taccha!" she said in almost shriek-like giggles, lisping slightly as she squeezed Tada's middle tightly. Laughing, Tada carefully unpeeled her from him and crouched down, so that he was closer to her height.

"Hello, Ran-Chan." He said, his tone light and breezy. "Have you come to see us and our museum?"

Ranko nodded vigorously.

"Ran-Cha's having a holiday. With Daddy." She declared, every word carefully enunciated with a lot of effort. Hana and Tada looked to Sugino for confirmation of this.

"Yeah, for the duration of the festival. I talked about it with Tomiko – my wife – and we decided it wouldn't hurt for Ranko to have a little break from lessons. Plus, it gives Tomiko the break too." Sugino grinned.

 _Ah, so she's home-schooled._ Hana figured it made a certain kind of sense, looking at the little girl as she giggled with Tada, clapping and gesturing clumsily as she attempted to tell him things. Tsukuda came out at that moment, and watched them, assessing the situation. She looked happy enough, but there was an edge of something else that had Hana pause and consider it. Nothing negative, she was sure, but there was definitely something more to what Tsukuda was thinking beyond a simple 'I like what I am seeing'. It intrigued her a little, but she figured it was not really her business, and so she put the thought to one side as she smoothed her skirt and went to kneel down, at the same time as Tsukuda did.

"Hey there, kid. I like your outfit." Tsukuda said cheerily.

"I do, too." Hana beamed, nodding in assent. Ranko _was_ prettily dressed, in a white t-shirt tucked into a pretty pale green skirt with a marshmallow-pink silk ribbon sash tied into a bow. The ribbons tied in her hair were the same shade as the skirt, while her shoes and tights matched the sash. But though she seemed proud at the compliment, she was also clearly thrown off by their presence, and her eyes widened even more as she stared from Tsukuda to Hana and back again, before she stepped back, sticking her thumb in her mouth and staring blankly at Sugino, who smiled encouragingly.

"Try introducing yourself to them, Ran-Chan." He said, gently, putting a hand on her shoulder and then using his other hand to point at them. "And ask them their names."

Ranko pulled her thumb away from her mouth.

"A big introduction?" she asked. Whatever that meant, Sugino knew, for he nodded and again smiled encouragingly.

"Yes, a big one. Do you remember how?"

Ranko nodded vigorously, before turning to the three of them again, and taking a deep breath.

"I'm Ran-cha! My long name is Ranko Sugino, but you call me Ran-Cha! Please to meet you!" she said quickly. As soon as she had, she looked back at Sugino for encouragement. He nodded. A few others gathered, watching them, but Ranko ignored them (or did not seem to realise that they were there) as she waited for her father to help her out.

"Can you tell them how old you are?" he asked. Ranko turned back to them, and with some effort, held up both hands, open, indicating she was 10 years old.

"This much!" she declared.

"Oh, so you're 10, huh?" Tsukuda asked. Ranko nodded.

"Yeah, this much!"

"Ah, well, I don't have enough fingers for my own age, you see." She continued. "Because I'm fifteen."

She waited a moment for Ranko to absorb this, and they all chuckled as the little girl's eyes went wide.

"That's REALLY BIG!" she gasped, stretching her arms out wide to indicate this.

"She's the same age as me, Ran-Chan. We're all that sort of age in here, you know. " Tada told her. This made Ranko look like she was going to explode with astonishment.

"Wow…."

"We forgot to introduce ourselves to you, Ran-Chan." Hana remembered. "I'm Hana Aoshima, and that's Hanae Tsukuda. You already know Tada-san, don't you?"

"Yeah, Taccha! Hey, hey, Taccha," Ranko jumped up and down on the spot. "Where Hiccha?"

"Hiro? She's in a different class, in a different part of the school."

"Oh. Can you get her here?"

"Sorry, Ran-Chan, I can't." Tada shook his head. "But perhaps you can ask your Daddy?"

Sugino laughed heartily at this.

"Perhaps we might. Hiro-Chan's probably dancing, right?"

"Yeah." Tada nodded as he got up. Tsukuda followed suit, and Hana did too. Though Tada and Tsukuda remained near Ranko and Sugino, Hana decided to go over to Izzy and Kuroba, who were standing near the tables and looking very curious.

"Hey, what's wrong with the kid?" Izzy asked in a flippant half-whisper. Hana glared at him, and Kuroba lightly brought his fist down on top of Izzy's head.

"Yikes! Sei-Chan, what's that for? And what's with the face, Li'l Aoshima-Chan?"

"Nothing's _wrong_!" Hana scolded. "Ran-Chan's adorable, she's really sweet."

"But stiiiiilllll….." Izzy whined. "There's something wrong."

Hana glared at him, imagining she was shooting daggers at him, though she knew she wasn't very scary. Izzy just remained flippant and petulant.

"Though Izzy is a bit of a meathead, he does have a point. She doesn't seem….like a ten year old. Do you know why?" Kuroba asked, rolling his eyes at the both of them. Hana relaxed an inch.

"I don't actually know. It's kind of rude to ask anyway. But does it matter, Ju-kun?"

"It probably does, but not right in this moment. But I can see she's 'sweet' as you say, so rest easy, Hana. And _you_ ," Kuroba turned back to Izzy and lightly smacked his head again. "Learn some tact, won't you?"

"Awww, Sei-Chan, you're so strict…." Izzy pouted. Hana shook her head and laughed.

"Ii-kun, you're so silly."

"Yup!" Izzy declared, making Hana giggle and Kuroba roll her eyes.

"Aoshima-san, your sister's coming up the hill with a stranger!"

Unexpectedly, Yamada jumped down from the cherry tree, making Ranko run and hide behind her father, while a few others were startled. Hana looked at her owlish classmate, who just regarded her stoically as she dusted leaves away from her apron.

"Asami is?" she blinked. She knew that there was a rule that was essentially preventing main campus students from visiting their museum. She couldn't imagine Asami breaking it so easily.

"Yeah, she is." With that, Yamada disappeared back inside. Disoriented, Hana blinked. _Asami. With a stranger? Who could that be?_

"Maybe she has something to tell you? Or perhaps you left something at home yesterday that you need?" Tada suggested.

"If it was the former, she could phone though." Kuroba pointed out.

"Well…."

Hana ignored the both of them, and stepped forward a few steps, before waiting for Asami to come into view. Clasping her hands together loosely, she found herself anticipating her sister's appearance with a surprising intensity. _Why are you here, Asami?_

She didn't have long to wait before Asami did come up the hill, looking more than a touch harried. And, as Yamada had said, she was with someone. A male someone, a bit taller than Asami, walking with a hesitant gait, looking around him nervously. He wore dark blue trousers, a white top, red fleece jacket and trainers, and he had a backpack slung awkwardly over one shoulder. His hair was light brown, and a little bit tousled, and he seemed thin, gaunt, an origami human, almost.

And though it took a while for the knowledge to properly register, Hana recognised him immediately.

"K-Kei-Chan?"


	61. Welcome to the Museum, part 14

"K-Kei-Chan?"

If he hadn't been standing near to her, Kuroba wouldn't have heard Hana's exclamation, quiet as it was, especially once her hands flew to her mouth. He regarded her sister and the young man who was clearly her brother carefully, but skeweringly. _What does this mean, that the brother she hasn't even seen for a year is appearing now?_

"Onii-san." Now that she was addressing him directly, Kuroba noted the way Hana stepped forward so that she was standing directly in front of Asami and Kei. "You….you came?"

"Of course he did!" Asami answered almost immediately. "I told you, didn't I? That I'd help that to happen?"

"I…yeah…" _But she didn't believe it._

"So now, you can show him the museum." Asami said, looking expectant. Then, she turned to Kei.

"You remember the drill, right?" she asked, briskly. Kei rolled his eyes, a surprising gesture, considering how delicate he seemed.

"Yes, I do." He told her. Asami nodded grimly, and then marched right up to Tada, and started to inform him about how things would be happening. Kuroba raised an eyebrow at the girl, but found his attention more easily grabbed by the exchange now happening between Kei and Hana.

"You….you really came." Hana said in a half-whisper, after a long moment where they just stared at each other. Kei nodded and swallowed.

"Yeah, I did." There was something un-used about his voice, as though he was speaking for the first time. It almost made Kuroba feel sorry for him. Almost. _Hana always tries to make him seem sympathetic, but I can't believe it. After all, I know firsthand the impact of having a brother who's there for you, and not having them, too. Which makes me want to crush him, for putting her through what she's been going through. But….he's not my brother, he's hers. Wait and see what happens next, Seijuro, before you say or do anything._

"I…you really wanted to though, Onii-san?"

Kei shrugged at this, and his eyes scanned the area, darting from point to point. He was serious, but what he was thinking did not seem certain.

"Sure." He shrugged again. "And…perhaps I need a different way of looking at 3E. After all, it's happened to both of us now…right?"

Hana's eyes widened, and she tilted her head for a moment. And then she practically flew at Kei , squeezing the breath out of him as she hugged him tightly.

"A-Ah, Uh…Hana?"

Kei tensed visibly and his arms flailed for a moment, but he looked down at his sister, and eventually, he relaxed and patted her head a few times. After a moment, he even smiled, and Kuroba felt himself relaxing as well.

"You have an awesome little sister, you know." Izzy commented when Hana let go of him. When Kuroba looked at him in surprise, not having expected his little brother to say anything, Izzy just winked, to which Kuroba gave him a vicious look. He really didn't get why Izzy teased him like this, nor the logic behind the specific ways he chose to, but he supposed that it was just part and parcel of having a brother-something that he would not change for the world.

Kei raised an eyebrow at the two of them and their antics, the dazed look not fully erased from his face, but again, he soon smiled.

"That I do." He agreed.

Hana beamed at this, and then started bouncing up and down on her feet.

"Ah, Onii-san, I should introduce you to everyone! First, Ju-kun and Ii-kun!" she gestured to the two of them, and then grabbed onto Kei's sleeve with one hand as she did the introductions.

"Ju-kun, Iii-kun, this is my big brother, Kei Aoshima. Onii-san, these two are Seijuro Kuroba and Izaya Arisato-my two best friends in this class!"

"U-uh, erm, pleased to meet you…" he studied them both. Kuroba remained level, but Izzy grinned wolfishly.

"Likewise." Kuroba put in before Izzy could say anything potentially stupid. He met Kei's eyes for a moment, and held his gaze. Kei tensed a little, but didn't look away, and after a moment, nodded. _Good. We understand each other._

Hana, who had been watching, said nothing, but instead dragged Kei over to Tada and Tsukuda, to introduce them to her brother, and at that moment, Asami finished talking to them and turned to her twin.

"So, Hana, you'll be responsible for Kei, alright? I can't come back here during the day, as you full well kno-"

"Its fine, Asami-Chan." Hana interrupted gently. "Anyway, thank you."

Asami pinked up a little at this, and pouted.

"Ah, it's fine. Not such a big deal, is it?" she shrugged, running a hand through her hair and readjusting one of the clips in her hair as she did so.

"Yes it is." Hana

Asami gaped at Hana, and then her expression softened and she nodded.

"It is kinda, isn't it?" She sounded almost wistful, but then she stuck her hands firmly into her blazer pocket and became no-nonsense again.

"Right, I'd better go then. I've a lot to do, myself. See you later, Kei, Hana! And the rest of you- do your best with this."

"Of course." Tada said warmly. "Hope yours goes well too."

Asami nodded briefly, and then took off, walking briskly at first, but then starting to run as she disappeared out of sight. They all looked at each other for a moment, wondering what to do. Kuroba noticed Ranko tug anxiously at her father's trouser leg, and then whispering something frantically to him when he knelt down. She also looked over at them as she whispered, but it wasn't clear who she was focusing on. A few other class members came out at this point, and Hana continued introducing Kei to all of them, holding tightly to his sleeve as she did so.

"So, you'll take a look around the museum, and sample our food, and then what?" Eriko asked, after being introduced and after Tada had summarised the situation to her. _That's a good question._

"I…I didn't think that far. " Kei sighed, looking helplessly to Hana, who didn't seem any more able to come up with an answer.

"Perhaps we could think of something afterwards, right?" she asked appealingly. "And…I thought that perhaps Onii-san could have the first guided tour?"

"Ah, that's a good idea!" Tada exclaimed. "Hana-Chan, do you want to lead it?"

Hana nodded at this.

"Ah, could we join this tour too?" Sugino put in at this point, now standing up again. Hana spun around and beamed.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "That'll be fun, right, Ran-Chan?"

Ranko nodded firmly at this, but then turned back to Sugino and tugged at his trouser leg again.

" _Daddy_." She whispered angrily. Sugino sighed and laughed wearily.

"Yeah, sure, you can go and ask, Ran-Chan. "

Ranko grinned, and then walked, purposeful but still a little wobbly, across a short distance until she was standing in front of Kei. Startled, Kei stepped back, and then looked down at the little girl.

"Uh…hello?" his greeting came out as a friendly question, but Ranko didn't seem to notice as she posed the question she had apparently been so desperate to ask.

"Are you a prince?"

 _Huh?_

"A…a prince?" Kei stuttered. He didn't seem to understand the question, but Kuroba could not judge him for that, for he didn't get it either. And judging by everyone else's expression, nobody else did.

"Yeah! Prince! Like in stories!"

"I….uhm….?" Helplessly, Kei looked to Hana, and when she shrugged, he looked at Sugino, who sighed.

"Apparently you look like the prince in one of the picture books my wife's been reading to her. I've not had a chance to see the illustrations myself so I don't know if this has any basis to it….but yeah. I'm sorry."

"Are you? A prince? "Ranko asked again, grinning. Kei regarded her.

"I…don't think I am…." He said, uncertainly. Almost instantly, the grin fell of her face and her lips trembled. Kei gaped, and Kuroba could practically _see_ the gears of his mind turning as he tried to figure out a way to prevent the little girl from crying.

"But I guess I could be one. For a little while. What do you think of that?"

Almost instantly, Ranko returned to smiling again.

"So you are a prince! Yayy!" but then she paused. "But Ran-Cha isn't a princess. That's not good, is it?"

"Well….if I'm being a prince for a little while, you could be a princess for a little while too. Like, you could be Princess...Ran? That's your name, right?"

"Yeah!" Ranko studied Kei carefully.

"Well then, I guess we can be Prince Kei and Princess Ran, just for a day." He concluded, shrugging. Ranko burst into giggles and beamed.

"Daddy, you hear that? Ran-Cha's a princess today!"

"Yeah, I heard. " Sugino said, clearly looking relieved. "Kei-kun, thank you for that."

"I…sure." Kei shrugged. He looked at Hana in some confusion, and she nodded at him.

"We should get started on the tour then!" Hana told them. "Shall we go?"

"Of course. Lead the way, Hana-Chan." Sugino said warmly. Hana did just that, and soon the four had disappeared into the museum. Those who were still out looked at each other, all of them no doubt trying to process what they had just been watching.

"Well, that was pretty interesting, wasn't it?" Izzy asked him. Kuroba nodded.

"That's one way of putting it. "He agreed. Then, he turned to everyone else.

"We should probably stop loitering outside, and get on with stuff for when the next lot of customers get here." He decreed. _No point just contemplating and reflecting, there's things to do, after all._

Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko nodded at this.

"Yeah, you're right." Tada agreed. "Let's do that then."

 **…**

The morning saw them get a quiet but steady stream of visitors to the museum, and plenty of people stayed to try the food-though they did not attract the crowds that had flocked to the very same place 30 years ago, there were quite a few people who wanted to know if the ramen that they were selling was the same ramen Yuuji Norita had so warmly praised. Though, all things considered, Sugino did not get too inundated with requests for autographs and selfies, once the tour with Hana had finished, he decided that it would be better for them to go before it got busier, (with Sugino promising Ranko that she'd see Kei again the next day-so attached she had become to him- and reassuring the rest of them that they'd definitely come back to sample their food the next day) and then Kei was left. They all seemed to have come to a unanimous decision that it probably wasn't the best idea to have Kei in the middle of the hubbub if it got significantly busier, whether it was because they at least had some idea of the older boy's situation or just because they got that sense from looking at him. But much to Tada's relief, Muramatsu came forward and suggested that Kei could get a ramen-making crash course out at the back, and then he could be another pair of hands to help Akira, Haru and Hirigi. Kei didn't seem to have any objections to that at all, and so he went off with them, and the day went on.

Later in the morning, they were treated to Aoyama bringing her kindergarten class up to see them-mainly for the food, but she did take up the offer of a tour for them, though Fuyumi-who took that tour-wisely made it a little simplified, given that this was a group of five-year-olds who mostly seemed fascinated by the fact there was a classroom in the mountains. But there were plenty who came up to see the museum for the museum itself, some other 3E alumni who had not applied to the museum for whatever reason, a small bunch of relatives of former 3E students, and there more than a few people who introduced themselves as long-time followers of the Ending the End Class blog.

It surprised all of them when Ayako's mother Naomi came to see what they were doing and asking all sorts of questions about their plans and how things had been going, but it was even more surprising to them to see that Ueno's mother Naru had come along with her, with little Souji too. Naru explained that Ueno had told her about how the main campus were restricted in moving, and how he'd asked if she would go up there to support them on his behalf-naturally, she had agreed, and on the journey up, she had met Naomi and they had somehow become friends. Both enjoyed touring the museum immensely, and decreed that if they could, they would come back again either on the next day or the last day.

But of course, in amongst their quiet but steady stream of visitors, there were plenty of people who did not have any special interest or connection to 3E or Ending the End Class or even Yuuji Norita, but just people who wanted to see what was going on, or who wanted something a little different to the usual school festival fare. But whatever the reasons, Tada and the others were grateful for them coming. Knowing that there were so many people who cared was immensely uplifting.

 **…**

At lunchtime, it got a slight bit quieter-at least on the food front-so Ayako decided it would be worth sitting aside for a while and updating the blog. It had been a point of contention as to whether she should update at different points throughout each day, or just do one big post at the end of each day, but in the end, she had won them around to doing the former.

"Kaori-san, Yukimura-san, I'm off to blog a bit!" she informed them, as she took off her apron and went to hang it.

"Sure, of course!" Kaori called back. "I'll be heading down soon myself, to relieve Eri-Chan."

"Ah, but Takashita-san, take your apron with you. We could get busier again at any time." Fuyumi told her. Ayako pulled a face, but took the apron off the hook and slung it over her arm.

"Okay then!" she said cheerfully, before going to get Izzy. After some back-and-forth of an annoying (but funny) variety, he logged in his laptop for her, and then she took it around to near the back, near some of the flowers, which Kinomoto was currently tending to.

"How've the flowers been faring?" she asked him conversationally. "Anybody fawn over them yet?"

"Sure, I've had a few people come over and ask me about them, but I've not really shown anyone these in detail yet, as I've mostly been helping out with serving and taking tickets." Kinomoto explained

"Ah well, at least it's calmer now. You can pretty them all up in this time. Not that they aren't pretty anyway. "

"Thank you, Takashita-san." He laughed. "So, are you doing a blog thing? "

"Yeah, just a little. Figured the best place would be around here, rather than somewhere where visitors are roaming around, you know?"

"Exactly, that makes sense. Anyway, I'm gonna move to the flowers in front, so happy typing."

"Thanks." Ayako grinned at Kinomoto's phrasing, and got on with the typing, connecting her phone to the computer to upload the photos she had managed to take so far. If Ruko hadn't been foraging that morning, then she probably would have had done more, but she would be swapping with Reno a little later on, so a bigger post could always wait until near the end of the day. So instead, she just got on with the post, humming to herself and grinning. It had been an incredibly good day so far, and having her mother come along had been pretty special as well. _I hope it will continue like this for the rest of the time._ She believed it would, because there was no way she'd accept an outcome where they'd worked so hard for no reason.

As she typed, she heard Kinomoto eagerly talking to someone about plants and growing them, and actually showing them the 3E flowers. Curious, Ayako stopped typing for a moment, and holding onto the laptop, edged forward to look. She saw Kinomoto talking with an ordinary looking burgundy-haired woman in her early twenties, both of them kneeling by some plants and acting as if they seemed to know each other. For a moment, she wondered if this was one of his older sisters, but then he referred to her as 'Shiemi-san', and mentioned 'your sister's garden store' and she recognised the woman as one of their very own museum attractions. _Awesome._ She grinned to herself and watched them for a few more seconds, and settled herself down again to continue typing.

Soon after that, she finished, and she uploaded the post. Once she was sure it had gone up successfully, she closed the internet and the other programs she had, disconnected her phone, and shut down the laptop. Then, she got up and was about to go and put everything away, when a surprised splutter from where Kinomoto and Shiemi were made her look back over there.

This time, Kinomoto and Shiemi were standing, but they were joined by Yukine. Though he did not see her, Yukine was facing her, and she could see the surprise, uncertainty and embarrassment flit across his face as he stared dead-on at Shiemi. Ayako couldn't see how Shiemi looked, though, so she had no idea what was going on.

"I…my…you've changed, Ryuma-kun." Shiemi stuttered out eventually.

"Ah, yeah, I suppose. The hair." Self-consciously, Yukine patted at his hair for a moment, before letting his arm fall to his side. Ayako observed that he had his work clothes on, meaning that he had nipped up here during a break. But at the same time, she remembered something else- Shiemi Nakahara had been in 3E six years ago.

 _So she's one of his classmates, huh?_

"Yeah, I guess….." Shiemi said, still sounding a little astonished. They stared at each other for a few moments, and Kinomoto quietly eased away, walking around the front, presumably deciding to occupy himself elsewhere and give them privacy. Ayako was not _that_ good, feeling oddly driven to find out what would happen, especially considering the look on Yukine's face, and so though she eased back to make sure she was not seen to be blatantly watching, she did continue to watch.

Yukine gulped more than a few times, his eyes apparently meeting Shiemi's and then dropping to the ground in embarrassment again. And then, all of a sudden, he bowed. Not a simple head-incline, but a fully contrite bow that almost seemed to fold Yukine in half.

"Nakahara-san, I'm sorry!" he blurted out, still bowing.

"I….erm, sorry, what?" Shiemi, somewhat understandably, sounded confused. Ayako was much the same, but then she remembered Yukine talking to them about his life, self-consciously rolling his sleeve up just a fraction to show what remained of his home-drawn tattoos, and the baffling prosthetic-finger conversation Yukine had had with Haru. _Ah._

"For everything. I scared you and the girls you used to hang around with in 3E, and though I'm pretty sure I didn't actually lay a hand on you, I know I bullied some lunch money out of you, and said some pretty mean things, and well, I did a lot of bad, bad things. I know I shouldn't have. And even if at this point it's just with words, I know I need to do something to make amends. So, sincerely, I'm sorry, Nakahara-san, for making that year more awful than it was already."

"Oh. Oh. Oh my." Ayako couldn't see the face Shiemi was making, but her voice conveyed everything as she played with her hair, twirling some strands around her fingers. Ayako put a hand to her mouth, feeling her fingers tremble. _Oh my, indeed._

"I guess it's more than the hair that's changed, huh?" she added, a little quieter. Yukine did not answer, his body still locked in contrition.

"Well…it's been a long time. " Shiemi concluded, shrugging. "You can straighten up, you don't need to bow to me."

"Ah…okay." Yukine straightened slowly, and though he still looked worried, he looked Shiemi in the eye. She nodded at him, slowly.

"So….erm….have you been inside the museum yet?" Yukine asked Shiemi.

"No, I haven't. I just came straight here to see the flowers, because I know Makoto-kun via my older sister."

"Ah, I see. I came in once or twice, helping the kids set up, but I haven't actually seen the finished museum. Perhaps we could go around it together, and maybe….perhaps you could tell me about the others in the class? If you still talk to them?"

"Sure, I keep in touch with some of them, but why?"

"To apologise to them, if they'll listen to me."

"Oh….ah, I don't see why they shouldn't….but how about we look at the museum first, Ryuma-kun?"

"That's okay by me."

With that, Yukine and Shiemi walked around to the front. As they went out of earshot, Ayako heard Yukine tell Shiemi about his fiancé, which made her grin. And her heart throbbed a little bit. _Redemption._ Hana had gone on about that a little, thinking the museum would be an opportunity for many to find understanding and forgiveness. She'd liked the sentiment, but hadn't quite been able to see the museum that way. But now, she understood.

 _Hmm, perhaps that could be the title of the next post. Or perhaps not. Nah,_ she decided, shaking her head as she took off, _Nah, I'll just write a little section, no names or anything. Just something to show the museum's awesome multi-purpose qualities._ She grinned to herself as she put everything away, and pulled her apron back on, and she found herself planning the next post, even as she decided to pop into one of the 'exhibit rooms' on the way back to the eating area-it sounded quite busy, and she wanted to see what was going on.

And then her thoughts just derailed and disappeared, because she saw Tada leading two main campus students to one of the exhibits.

"Excuse me, what?" she spluttered out. Tada turned, and laughed. The other two students- a boy and a girl- seemed more serious. She recognised them vaguely as being third years, but didn't recognise them as such. Though the fact that the girl had hazel eyes struck her as being a familiar fact.

"How did you manage to get up here? Did you just sneak out?" Ayako asked them both.

"Pretty much." The boy answered, unperturbed by her utter surprise. "It's crazily busy down there, so they weren't going to miss us."

"Yeah." The girl asserted quietly. She looked around her, uncertainly, before her eyes returned to the exhibit stuck on the wall in front of her. Ayako followed her gaze to the exhibit, and noticed it was the one detailing Seiji's 3E time and life afterwards. He'd provided two photos from his 3E time, in the end. One a standard school photo, and one of him in casual clothes, holding a tiny baby with auburn hair-auburn hair…just like the girl now staring at said picture.

"Oh! Wait, is it, could you possibly be…?" the girl looked at her, wide-eyed, and then nodded.

"Yeah."

"This is Tsukasa Kashima-Chan, Seiji-sempai's little sister." Tada explained. He then pointed to the boy, who was a fair bit taller than the girl, with light blue eyes and very short but incredibly curly dark brown hair.

"That's Tsumugu Munakata-kun. He's in the same class as Tsukasa-Chan."

"I see…." Ayako said. She blinked. _They just freaking sneaked out? I can't believe it….I mean….but on the other hand, that's one up to us!_

"Well then, enjoy your time here! Try and sample some of our menu if you can, before you have to rush back, okay?" she badly wanted to interrogate them both about everything- and she particularly wanted to ask Tsukasa about her brother- but she could hear that they were starting to get busier in the café portion, and so because of that, she just nodded at them, and rushed off.

 **…**

"Onii-san….did you have a good day?"

The hopeful question was the first thing Hana had said to Kei during their journey home, and so he considered it. Certainly, it had contained a lot he hadn't expected. He wasn't a baseball fan (or much of a sports person, for that matter) but he recognised Tomohito Sugino, and found it ever so difficult to believe that he had once been a 3E member- and yet he had been, a whole thirty years ago. It seemed so contradictory, that a symbol of success could have sunk that low, and it certainly made him think about things. He wasn't sure what to make of Sugino's youngest daughter, exactly, but for some reason, the fact that she had latched onto him and didn't seem to notice how raw and exposed he was out in the real world had made him feel special. Oddly brave, even, if for the simple reason that he still retained enough dignity to not want to embarrass himself in front of a 10-year-old. And the way Hana's classmates had been so nice about him and his circumstances (though he had a feeling they were all piecing little bits of story together, and that it was only Izzy and Kuroba who knew everything) was a shocker too.

The museum had been quite interesting too. Most of it had washed over him, so overwhelmed he was, but a few things stuck. Like the revelation that the young world-renowned pianist he liked to listen to online sometimes had been in 3E the year before he had- he simply did not remember ever seeing Minoru Takechi in Kunugigaoka. And those of his own classmates who were there in the museum surprised him too- Mayu, Tomoki, Shiki. He remembered them all, though to different degrees, and though that did not surprise him so much, the fact that not all those resurging memories were negative ones really _did_ surprise him. It had been quite interesting to read about Isogai, Maehara and Megu too. It was amazing, knowing they had been helping people the way they'd tried to help him for so long. And that they were _still_ doing it now. Their attraction, though a wall-mounted one, was large and in a prominent place, and Kei felt satisfied with that- it was no less than those three truly good people deserved. He recognised Yari Fukui too, for the simple reason that he had come across her and her charitable works a lot online-that, and DoubleI had mentioned her once or twice, too. He had also been impressed by the fact that the captions/descriptions were written in both Japanese and English. But the one thing that had stayed with him was the simple wooden memorial plaque, dedicated to a former 3E member, stuck outside the main classroom. From the dates, he figured that this girl had been one of Isogai, Maehara and Megu's former classmates. But he hadn't expected her to have been the mother of a current 3E student. He wasn't sure what it made him feel, exactly, but it stayed with him.

And as for the rest of the day….it had been incredibly helpful for him to stay at the back, with those students doing the cooking. Muramatsu- _another_ 3E alumnus-didn't seem perturbed by his presence at all, teaching him the 'way of the ramen' as if he was one of his workers, or even just one of the current 3E students whom he was overseeing. He seemed a bit coarse, but by the time he had left them (just after lunchtime), decreeing that they could cope alone, he had found himself quite liking the man. And gratefully, for most of the rest of the day, he'd only had to interact with Haru, Hirigi and Akira- of course, Hana came to look at him a few times, as did Tada, and when Isogai dropped by to see the museum, he came by their makeshift kitchen to see him, too. He'd also been gawped at by a main-campus student called Aida, who had bustled up just after the day had ended, helping everyone clean and apologising for not having been able to make it to help them the day before. From what he understood, she was also a former 3E student….but one from that year. It was more than he could comprehend, almost. But….in a way, he was glad of all that.

"Yeah," he answered as his verbal conclusion. "I did have a good day. Perhaps I could go back tomorrow."

Hana didn't say anything to that, but the incredible look of joy that spread over her face made him glad he said it. _Except, how do I follow up on that?_ For as much as the day had brought all sorts of good things to him, it still had been the first time in years that he'd been around so many people. He could feel the weight and the strain of it compressing his bones, pulling at his mind. _But, I'm still standing, aren't I? I haven't blown up yet. That, in itself, must count for something._ And in the next breath, he wondered at his newfound hopefulness. But even so, the fact it existed helped him a whole lot.

The rest of the journey back, they spent in a sort of comfortable silence, and Kei observed Hana covertly. He thought about how loved she seemed by the rest of the class, and in particular those two boys she had called her two best friends. It was an immense relief to know that she had this, and to really, truly see that 3E hadn't ruined her. _But I sort of did, didn't I?_ What little sadness happened to exist around her, he knew it was because of him, and the self-imposed prison he'd stayed in all this time. He had seen a hint of that blame in the eyes of the Kuroba boy-one of Hana's best friends. He had said little, and seemed to be the level, observant type who planned every move and executed them all with fearful confidence. And he had monitored Hana carefully before reacting to Kei, going by how she was towards him to inform his own attitudes. If Hana had been upset or scared by his presence, Kei had no doubt that Kuroba's attitude towards him would have been so much colder. As for Izzy, he had the same observation, but there was a wild, careless abandon to him, and though he was not warmer than Kuroba, per se, he was more verbose, more openly affectionate towards Hana and suspicious of Kei-until he had seen Hana's reactions.

The way this made him feel was strange. On one hand, the sister he had worried so much about was doing so much better than expected, with such devoted friends, who would clearly stick with her forever, even towards a bitter end (even while trying to shield her from it). But at the same time, he wondered just what sort of brother he was that these two friends were not willing to trust him based on the blood relationship alone. And then addition to that, he wondered which one of those two boys would eventually win her heart. It seemed clear to him that one of them would, but with both of them being so strangely intense (and more than a little scary), he could not tell who. He knew that whoever it was, they would be wonderful for her, but it was hard to visualise when he just didn't know. _Breathe, Kei. Breathe. There's still time, time to improve things, time to find out._

When they reached their road, Kei stopped thinking about those two boys and sucked in a breath as he looked at his house. It seemed strange, foreign, almost, and he realised immediately that it was because he hadn't seen it from the outside in a long time. _Wow. Oh wow._ Objectively, he knew it was just an ordinary four-bedroom house, but at this moment, it looked like a miracle. He pulled himself together when they got to the door and Hana opened it, though.

"We're back!" Hana called for the both of them.

"How did it go?" Asami appeared at the top of the stairs, still in school uniform.

"It was good!" Hana told her. Asami looked expectantly at Kei, who nodded. Asami grinned, then disappeared back upstairs. Hana and Kei went into the kitchen to put away their lunch things, and their mother was there, preparing dinner.

"Oh! You're back. How was it, Kei? Did you enjoy yourself? Are you alright? Did you manage?"

"I'm…I'm fine, Mum." He said, weariness hitting him as she hugged him and checked him for any signs of distress. She stepped back and then took a few steps back to the food she was preparing. Then, she seemed to notice Hana for the first time, and she blinked and grinned.

"Did the museum go well today then?" she asked. Hana nodded firmly, and she smiled at her.

"That's good. You must both be so tired. Go put your bags away and change and then come for dinner….." their mother trailed off and her gaze went back to Kei.

"Are you going to join us for dinner today?" she asked, with a measured casualness. Kei froze. Theoretically, he could. But practically…..he was weighed down and stretched thin, and he wasn't sure if he could do everything at once. If he could _live_ everything at once. Evidently though, he didn't need to say that, for his mother seemed to read his panic and her shoulders slumped. A sideways look at Hana revealed a hint of sorrow, but no disappointment. Still, his heart clenched.

"Ah, well then, I'll fix you up a tray." Their mother declared.

"And I'll bring it up for you…..if that's okay, Onii-san." Hana added.

 _Call me Kei or Kei-Chan again, like you used to._ He had no right to want that, but even so, he wanted it. Letting out a sigh, he nodded slowly, and then decided to try something. An olive branch, a halfway point to meet at, whatever it was.

"I'll bring down the tray then. Once I've finished." He offered, somewhat tremulous.

From the looks his mother and sister gave him at that, it seemed as if he had said something so much more revolutionary than that. But it seemed like the simplest things had such huge impacts, and this was one of them. And, well, though it was simple, if it helped to make him and his family better again, then that was all that really mattered. So, he decided that he _definitely_ would bring the tray down himself after dinner.

* * *

 **Aaaaand this double update concludes the first day of the festival. There are a lot of scenes I have in my head for the festival, but it would drag the story out unnecessarily to do that, so I've just picked ones that are important, whether that is for plot reasons, character development reasons, or just to give you a little more insight into the lives and thoughts of various characters at this point of the story and in relation to the museum. So I am expecting that for the other two days of the festival, I will use one or two chapters for each of the days. It'll depend on how much focus I end up deciding each day needs. So yeah.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed these two chapters, and as always, do leave feedback!**


	62. Welcome to the Museum, part 15

**=D =D I am happy today. It's my birthday, so I went shopping for some stuff for myself, and I went to buy books at WHSmith's and they had copies of Assassination Classroom in their manga section! So I now have physical copies of the first three volumes and I am just so, so, so, SO happy.**

 **Anyway...hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Smiling and pointing visitors towards the beginning of the path that would lead them to the museum, Eriko didn't initially clock that Sora Kataoka was amongst them, even as he stopped to say hello to Taisei Yoshida and Koujiro, until he was actually in front of her, smiling as he greeted her.

"Ah! S-Sora-san, it's you!" as soon as she said that, she wanted to kick herself. _How utterly stupid of you!_

"I mean, I didn't expect you to be here." She recovered. Sora just laughed warmly, seeming not to notice her gaffe.

"Well, _Maman_ sort of asked me to come. And I had some holiday due, so I figured it would be nice to have a few days away from my desk. Truthfully, I arrived here yesterday, but I'd forgotten how draining the time zone difference was, so I spent the day asleep. I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, no, that's fine!" Eriko said hurriedly. "So….how long are you here for?"

"About a week. I know the festivals are only 3 days long, but I thought it would be nice to visit Iku and her sisters, and a few others. Maybe just do the tourist thing. It really has been a while since I last came here, after all. But enough about me, how are you, Eriko?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She said, being extra-polite as if it would be enough to counteract the pinkness she knew was rising in her cheeks.

She had not talked to Sora much before, just a couple of times-once when Megu had introduced him, and a few other times when he had just wandered into view for whatever reason while visiting his mother. All the times, it struck her that he was really, really good looking. Aesthetically pleasing, as Hana would probably say. But she also had to remind herself that he was nine years older than her. And she barely knew him, though of course, as if looking nice wasn't enough, he had a nice (well, more than nice, so much more than nice) manner too. _Argh, pull yourself together._

"So…uh, you're here alone then? Not with…." Eriko scrambled for the name of the pretty blond she'd seen with Sora during one of the Skype chats with Megu. The young woman had seemed overly serious and a little stuck-up, but it had literally been a few-seconds-long impression, so she couldn't know.

"Genevieve?" Sora supplied, clearly remembering the Skype chat. He pulled a rueful face, and shrugged. "No, that relationship broke down, unfortunately."

"Oh…uh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Ah, don't worry about me. I'll recover. It's just the way of things." Still, he did sound a little sad, and Eriko found herself feeling for him, even as part of her clocked that this meant that he was currently single…. _you idiot. Get over yourself._

"Anyway," Sora said, returning to himself as he smiled brilliantly. "I'll head up there now. _Maman_ 's featured in there, right? It'll be cool to see that."

"Yeah. There's a lot of other interesting people too. I know you didn't grow up here and all, but there may be a few names outside of Kataoka-san's class you might recognise."

"Oh? Well then, perhaps we'll see. See you later then, Eriko."

"Likewise, Sora-san." She said.

As soon as he was safely up the hill, she let out a huge, huge breath.

"Oh my, Eriko-Chan, you seem flustered." Koujiro called to her. She narrowed her eyes at him and his apparent delight at her flustered state.

"Don't make me destroy you." She told him bluntly, just making him laugh. Eriko rolled her eyes, then, noticing some new visitors approaching, pushed such thoughts out of her mind, went to direct them to the museum.

She spent the next half an hour or so doing nothing but that, as well as answering basic questions people had, and directing those who needed it to the carts that Koujiro and Yoshida had going. Then, just as some visitors went up, including an pair of elderly ladies who was making use of the cart, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. As it was quiet, she pulled it out to check it, and saw it was a text from Kaori. Smiling, she opened it.

 _"_ _Hey, you didn't tell me that Kataoka-san's son looked like that! Eri-Chan, I am disappointed ;) ;)_

At that, Eriko physically face-palmed.

 **…**

Though this particular year seemed to be all about how people changed over the years, or even over a single year, Maehara found himself thinking that Yari was proof of how things can remain the same at the core as he followed them to the next attraction. Watching her as she intently looked at the display about herself and read each line, using her fingers to follow along, he found himself taken back to twenty years ago, when he had been hoping that he did not say the wrong thing to this girl who had just had everything about her world turned upside down, all while she stared at him far too seriously, dark blue eyes made even darker with the weight of life.

And of course, in that memory, Suzuki was sitting next to her, wiry and angry, but watching her carefully, taking stock of every fleeting expression and gesture, ready to step and do whatever it was he needed to do for her, whatever it took. In the present day, the angriness was gone, but still, the same careful protectiveness was there, and though Yari had managed to make something of herself-more than that, even-her eyes remained serious. _Changing, and yet staying the same. I wonder if an onlooker could say the same about us._

"What do you think, Yari?" Suzuki asked her. She didn't respond for a moment, so busy she was with reading, but then she stepped back, and looked at everything as a whole, before turning to him.

"They mentioned my brother." She said, simply. Her face betrayed little, but her voice carried all the emotion. "Look, Sonosuke. His name is there."

"Yeah, yeah, I see it, Yari. They've mentioned him twice, haven't they?" Reading the sign himself, Maehara realised that Suzuki was technically right. Ryuu Fukui had been mentioned twice- first just to acknowledge the fact he had existed, and the second to describe his last act, one of ultimate sacrifice. There was even a small picture of him, though it was just the school portrait that had been used in the media. Maehara was impressed with the class-though Ryuu never had anything to do with 3E, he was still important, and of course needed to be mentioned. He knew that Yari had asked, but still, the way they had handled the request…. _Ah, man, I wish that Koro-sensei and Yukimura-sensei could have been mentioned here. They're similar in a way, aren't they?_

"Yeah, they have." Yari turned to Hana, who was watching them both with a hopeful expression, and then nodded soberly at her, even as her dark blue eyes watered and shimmered.

"We promised, after all." Hana said, softly, apparently understanding the scope of the emotions that were most likely going through her head. Yari nodded again, and then Suzuki put a hand on her shoulder, carefully and gradually so as to not shock her, and directed her attention to the rest of the display.

"This is about _you_ , though. Look at all this. What do you think? It's a good portrayal of your life, right?" he asked.

Maehara watched as Yari looked up at him and bit her lip, tipping her head slightly in a considering manner. Suzuki's lips quirked in a smile, and he nodded at her, and eventually, she relaxed, and they both turned back to the display.

As they looked at it, standing side by side, Hana eased back so that she was standing with Maehara.

"Are you enjoying yourself here so far, Maehara-san?" she enquired. Maehara nodded at her, grinning.

"Yup! It looks pretty awesome in here. I mean, of course you'd be able to pull it off, but yeah, I'm impressed. And, of course, flattered." He grinned wider as he gestured over to the other side of the room, where the display about himself, Megu and Isogai was. There were a couple of people reading it, and one turned at that moment, and, recognising him, beamed and saluted him before turning and poking the shoulder of his companion, who turned and waved. Maehara grinned and waved back, recognising them as 3E students from around five years back, before turning back to Hana. _I'll go catch up with them in a moment or so, if they're still here,_ he mentally noted.

"That's good." Hana beamed. "Say, did you know that Kei's here?"

"Is he?" Isogai had mentioned something the evening before, but Maehara had not been paying attention. "I didn't see him."

"Well…" Hana pulled a face. "He's at the back, with Akira-san and the others, helping with the cooking. Because it's quiet there. But….I think he would like to see you too."

The last sentence was posed as a question, and Maehara felt for her. Carefully, he patted her hair.

"Sure, perhaps I will." He said, noting how Hana seemed to sag with relief. He added 'visit Kei' to his mental notes list, wondering how the boy was doing. _He must be getting better, if he came out here in the first place. I suppose that gives us all hope._

At that moment, Hana seemed to note something in Yari, for she went forward again and carefully took the woman's free hand in her own, a gesture that struck Maehara as being both ever so innocent and unusually perceptive. Indeed, Yari herself had no issue with it, though she did look surprised.

"Do you want to look around the rest of the museum?" Hana asked, softly. Yari considered, while Suzuki scrutinised them watchfully. Maehara just watched, not wanting to walk away just yet.

"I started out doing that, so yeah….let's meet some more people." She decided. "Sonosuke?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll stay as long as you're staying, Yari." Was Suzuki's automatic response. Yari nodded.

"Okay."

And so, they continued walking around the rest of the room. Hana still held onto Yari's hand, but even though the woman had a cane, they still somehow ended up ahead of Suzuki and Maehara, leaving the two of them together.

"It was a bit of a muddle, but I was able to set things up so that I'd be free for most of the day, though not before the rest of them start coming home from their schools." Suzuki explained to him, almost immediately, brisk and hurried, as if seeking to clarify things as soon as possible.  
"Of course, there is some paperwork I need to do, so I'll probably end up having to do that at night, but that's not such a big deal, and I don't need to worry about the babes today because there's some big thing for little children going on in the public library, so Kogami and Sakakibara are taking them there."

"Sounds like the library is going to have a big surprise then." Maehara laughed, imagining the scenario. He thought about the time his class had to help at Wakaba Day Care, and all those children. And he thought of his own children as they had been during that age period. Again, cases of change and constancy. _It's crazy._

"Now isn't _that_ right?" Suzuki asked rhetorically, pulling a face at the thought. This made Maehara laugh again- even when the children in his care were being utter nightmares, Suzuki clearly adored them.

"Either way, you don't need to really justify your coming here. You're here with Yari." Maehara became serious as he said this.

"Well, of course I am." Suzuki gave Maehara an incredulous look as if to say- _why else would I be here?_ Though, Maehara was sure that Suzuki _did_ want to see what the products of the current 3E's work were like, especially given how he hadn't believed that they were even real in the first place. But his main motivation for personally coming up to visit would have been Yari, to support her, and it really was as simple as that. Maehara looked ahead at Yari, and noticed that she was showing something on her phone to Hana, a bright look about her as she explained something very, very carefully. Hana, on her part, listened just as carefully, her responses tinged with her usual smiles.

"Ah," Suzuki commented. "She's showing the baby pictures."

Maehara gawped at him.

"Nagi's child, born a few weeks ago. Now Yari's the proud aunt of three girls." _And you're proud of the proud aunt, huh?_

"Ah, I see. " Nagi was four years younger, and so most of the time, Maehara hadn't really seen her. A few times during weekend or holiday meet-ups, she had tagged along, and all Maehara really remembered was that she was a shy, tiny child who looked like Yari, but less ethereal, most notably because her hair had been mousy brown and curly, whereas Yari's hair was an unusual shimmery silver and poker-straight, just as it was now. But because of her being younger, he didn't know so much, and had not kept in touch with her, as such. Isogai did, but then again, that was understandable.

"So, do you talk to her often? How is she?"

"Well, not often, as such. If she usually visits me, it's only ever with Yari. But I've met her children, including the little one. She's fine, they're all fine, really. "

"And is she married or…" Maehara asked, curious.

"Yeah, she's married. Her surname is Takahashi now. His name is Toru, he's some kind of computer technician or something, I don't really know. But tch, I don't really care about that. He's more than decent, and has basic human compassion, and he loves her for _her_ as opposed to some idealised version he holds in his head, which is more than enough in my book." Suzuki answered.

"Do you ever think about asking Yari to marry you?"

"EH?!"

"You heard me, Sonosuke."

The question was one he formulated almost on an impulse, but now he thought about it, it did not seem such a strange thing to ask.

"But…I mean…I don't-I'm alright, Yari, you don't need to wait for me. Unless you want to?" Suzuki's surprised protest automatically stopped to answer Yari's silent question.

"What if you just let Hana continue showing you around, then I'll just wander around with Maehara-san, and then we'll regroup to get something to eat?" he suggested to her after she had acknowledged his response. Yari frowned for a moment, but then it cleared, and she nodded.

"Okay. That suits me." She said, soft but clear. Suzuki smiled at that, relieved, and the girl and the woman continued on. Then, the conversation between Suzuki and Maehara picked up where they left off.

"Where did that even come from? I mean, in the first place, I hardly have the time to be married to anyone in the first place, and Yari's pretty busy herself, what with the charity and all, and like I said, where the _actual_ bloody hell?"

"You're devoted to her, aren't you? You just want her to be happy."

"I've just known her for a long time, is all, we've been friends a long time. _Of course_ I want her to be happy."

"Sonosuke, you're not 'just' anything when it comes to her, you know that, right?" Maehara deadpanned.

"But that doesn't translate into….I've never looked at her like that!" Sonosuke steamed, seeming genuinely baffled. Though there was a flicker of something that made Maehara suggest that this wasn't the entire truth, even if all that it had been was a fleeting adolescent enchantment. But it wasn't worth calling him out on that, even for a moment of teasing. That wasn't what he was aiming for.

"Still, whatever it is, you'd be able to protect her better, wouldn't you, in a marriage?"

At this, Sonosuke's lip curled, and his eyes flashed, though he did not lash out in the way he would have done as a teenager. Instead, all of the anger came out in his voice, though he still kept it fairly composed and quiet.

"Seriously? You'd have me tell Yari that _it's safer for her to be married_? Really?"

Maehara winced.

"Right, that was a bad way of putting it. I apologise for that. I didn't mean it in that sort of sense, though there are legal things that-"

"As it stand, I've arranged things such that half my assets will go to her when I'm gone, and half to the orphanage. So that doesn't…Maehara-san, I get that there's a good-hearted reason for you pushing this suggestion at me, but really, I don't get it. There's just no….no basis. We're busy working adults with our own lives, there's no sexual attraction or tension between us or anything-"

"But the emotional component, enduring bond and the respect is there." Maehara interrupted. "It might sound odd coming from me of all people, but there doesn't necessarily need to be any sort of lust between you in the first place. The things you have already can be enough, like…."

Maehara thought of the lasting relationships of the people he knew well- the constant, solid support Isogai and Mari gave each other; the compelling, passionate yet calmly inevitable fusing of souls that Chiba and Hayami seemed to be; the admirable loyalty of Naoya and Yuuya even as most of their worlds still could not fully accept them; the easy, comfortable rhythms of two people who fitted together perfectly to the extent of almost being diabolical, in the way Karma and Manami were; the bright and steady blossoming Tada and Tsukuda were going through; the sweet devotion of _those two_ , even if now the sweetness was marred by guilt. But as much as he could have said a lot about those relationships and others, none of those were the ones he called upon now to explain what he was trying to say.

"Well, you know one of the guys doing the carts-Yoshida-was one of my classmates in 3E too, right? His wife Sumire was in that class too. And they knew each other before that, through their parents, so they were friends right from the start. But this isn't going to end like you probably think it is. No big revelations or anything. So anyway, they remained friends and all, and they got on with their lives and all. But, they got older, and they were both ultimately looking to settle down and start families, but both weren't doing so well in finding someone they'd want to spend their lives with, in finding someone to fall in love with, and though given they were about 22, 23 at the time it might have seemed melodramatic, they did start to wonder if their chances would disappear if they just kept on like this. To be fair, after a string of failures, you do start to get tired and frustrated of being in that cycle. And at some point, talking about it, they thought that there would be worse things than getting married to each other. They had their friendship as a good starting point, and they had similar outlooks on and expectations of life. And so, after properly talking it out and thinking it through, they got married. And they've been living a good life together for just over twenty years, and very happy with it too. Their children range in ages from 20 to 6- there are nine of them in total."

This last fact made Suzuki splutter.

" _Nine_?! Really?" he looked incredulous. "Wow."

"Yeah, really. But anyway," Maehara said. "Obviously, they're not you and Yari, and you aren't them, but at the very least, if you haven't thought about it before, I think you should. Love doesn't manifest or progress in the same way for everyone."

"I….argh, Maehara-san, like I don't have enough to think about already!" Suzuki protested, pained. Maehara grinned evilly and said nothing, as he waited for Suzuki to calm down.

"But anyway, in any case, whatever I end up thinking, it's not about me only, is it? That was kind of the point with your little story and all." Suzuki pointed out.

"Sure, of course. I really only asked if you'd ever thought about it. But…."

Maehara trailed off. Yari and Hana had left the classroom and had gone to one of the other rooms holding exhibits, and so he looked back over at the display about her instead, and thought of her as she had been, standing there, looking to Suzuki as she tried to express and handle her feelings.

"Your caring right now isn't going one way, you know." Maehara concluded.

"Yes, I know." Suzuki rolled his eyes heavily, but then he softened a little. "Yeah. I know."

"But," he asked, "Can we stop talking about that now and go find them instead?"

Maehara suppressed a chuckle, thinking that Suzuki was making a good case for why he was right by trying to stop talking about the issue, and instead, he nodded.

"Sure, let's do that! I've not been in the other rooms yet."

When Suzuki had re-joined Yari, Maehara took the opportunity to go and say hello to the two he had spotted earlier, and had an enjoyable fifteen minutes or so catching up with them and finding out what were up to. To his delight, both young men were doing well and were happy in their lives now, and he was sure that Isogai and Megu would be similarly delighted to find this out, and so before he left them, he promised that he would get them to get back in touch.

After that had been finished, he went to search out Kei, finding him at the back. He seemed in good hands with Haru, Akira and Hirigi, and though he seemed a bit overwhelmed, he seemed like he was dealing well with his transition back into the outside world- assuming that this was indeed the beginning of Kei's return. Either way, things looked fine, and so Maehara was satisfied when he left him.

When he went out, he was called over to the eating area by none other than Oshiro, who had somehow found Suzuki and Yari.

"Maehara-san, aren't you going to eat before leaving?"

"Yeah, sure I was. " Maehara said, going over to sit with them. "How are you, then?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It's been cool to catch up with Fukui-san and Suzuki-kun, hasn't it, Sawada?"

To his surprise, Maehara realised that Kousuke Sawada was sitting next to Oshiro, drinking a glass of grape-juice. Sawada put it down and nodded, then looked at Maehara.

"Yes, it has been. It would have been nice to see people from my own class, but I don't mind, really. Anyway, how have you been, Maehara-san? It's been a long time."

"It has. How's your daughter? She'd be quite big now, right?"

"She's nineteen, so yeah. " Sawada grinned, then looked wistful. "The time really goes by, doesn't it. 21 years since I left here, and I have a nineteen year old. Just….well."

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Maehara chuckled, thinking of his own nineteen-year-old daughter, and then about his own 3E. _Thirty whole years. Thirty years of holding this secret and carrying it around and letting it form who we are while pretending it doesn't even exist. That's a long time, isn't it? To do something like that. Perhaps Rio had the right idea all along._

"I really worded that well, didn't I? And here's me, meant to be a writer and all." Sawada joked.

This made them all laugh (though Yari just smiled a big but closed-lipped smile rather than actually laugh), and then they continued chatting for a while before Yamada came to take their orders, though really, she barely interrupted them as they discussed different topics and talked about their different (and to some extent shared) 3E experiences. When their food did come, they became more or less silent for a while as they sampled it, and then all of a sudden they were talking again, but this time about what they were eating, with Oshiro trying to get samples of everything everyone else had chosen (Suzuki heavily protesting this) and Maehara regaling them with stories of what it had been like when his own class had done the acorn ramen.

Tada came out in the middle of one of these stories, and walked over to listen, which he did, very intently, with a cautious but hopeful look as he did. It did note take Maehara much effort to figure what Tada was thinking- that perhaps he would get a little snippet of the stories that he had been promised, through listening to him. It made his heart clench a little- sure, what he was saying now was the truth, but so much was edited out, there were so many details he had moved from one place to another to hide the holes from what had been edited out. He was so used to doing this that he barely noticed it. But when he did….. _yeah, we are paralysed, aren't we?_

"So, does that taste like how it did back then?" Tada asked, when Maehara finished his story. "I mean, sure we had the recipes and Takuya-san helped and all, but…."

"It's fine, Tada. More than that, really. It tastes brilliant. Brings back a lot of memories-as you can probably tell from eavesdropping." Maehara opted for a joke, hoping that it would perhaps help to make thing easier for the both of them.

"Hiroto-san! I wasn't eavesdropping!" Tada protested, pulling a face. It seemed like the joke had worked, and internally, Maehara breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I know. Just pulling your leg, kid. Relax, relax. So, in any case, how was it yesterday? Busy, or…?"

"Not insanely busy, but we have had a constant stream of people. Lunchtime was strange, because for the first half it got quieter, and then it suddenly got busier again before levelling out to how it was in the middle of the morning. Our statistics look good though- Fuyumi-Chan's been taking care of them, so of course it's not just the numbers but literally how they look. " Tada chuckled wryly at this before continuing.

"I don't know if that will be mirrored today though. But it looks like it, I think."

"Meh, that's still pretty good. " Maehara nodded, impressed. "We were a bit more dramatic- quiet, with the occasional spurt mainly consisting of large groups, and then all of a sudden Yuuji Norita appeared and changed the game and…"

"…you ended up having to pull out half-way through the second day. " Tada finished. "I don't think we'll be doing that any time soon."

"Nope, you won't be." Maehara agreed.

 _Not least because that gives me a little more time._ That 'after the festival' promise he had made in a panic, the one that hung over him now as he talked to this boy he'd known for most of his life-he did not particularly want to go back on that promise. Of course not. It had been thirty years, after all. And the mentoring, the reason he knew people like Yari, Suzuki, Oshiro and Sawada in the first place, that had already been revealed to the world. So what, exactly, was revealing the other biggest secret of his life to people who were important to him? _Everything, just everything, But still, I'll do it._

Tada obviously had no real idea of the scope of these things that Maehara was thinking, but the way he studied Maehara carefully made it seem like that even so, he understood the need (and the desire) for the extra time that having the full three days of the festival would have, and so he just nodded.

"I sure hope so. Anyway, I better go and see if anyone wants a museum tour or something, so, see you later?"

"Of course." Maehara said. "Of course. "

And as Tada disappeared out of sight, he thought again about things changing and remaining constant at the same time, and the nature of long-term secrets, and found himself wondering just where he would start to begin to explain everything when the festival had finally ended. _Because really, where is the beginning, in this odd story of ours?_

 **…**

"I still can't believe you gave me a bonnet. A freaking bonnet!"

"But we needed to hide your hair, Shincchi, what else could we have used?"

"Oh, I dunno, a balaclava? A scarf? A baseball cap?"

"Technically, a baseball cap wouldn't have had the full coverage."

"Naoya-kun, don't help him! And anyway, there's another thing! Your hair is freaking _white_. And you, grinning idiot, are _blond_!"

"You're still hung up about that?!"

"I wasn't until you _brought it up_! In fact, I was actively trying to not think about it."

Standing outside with Karma, talking with Kinomoto about the flowers, and the hanakotoba, these fragments of conversation completely and utterly baffled Tada. He couldn't even figure out who it was who happened to be having this argument, until of course he could, because they came into view. The first two were Naoya and Yuuya, and the other a red-headed man who seemed a similar age to the two of them. Though they were arguing, and the red-haired man looked annoyed, they also seemed like they were on friendly terms with each other. Of course, that didn't tell him much about who the red-haired man was, per se, until Izzy came out of the classroom, Kuroba close behind.

"Well, this looks good so far." The red-headed man said, looking at the café area. "Seems like you guys are popular, despite being all the way out here. "

"Dad, you haven't even been inside yet, to know what this looks like." Kuroba said. "But yes, I think we're doing fairly well. Might even be on the top 3 when it comes to profits."

 _Ohh, Kuroba-kun's father._

"That sounds good, that sounds good. Of course, we wouldn't expect anything less from your genius spawn, right, Nacchi?" Yuuya teased, grinning. Though they were obviously not blood related, Tada found himself thinking (again) that this was clearly where Izzy got it from.

"Yuuya, that joke was awful." Naoya said matter-of-factly, looking at Izzy. Yuuya pulled a confused face, looked from Izzy to Kuroba to his-no, _wait, their_ -father, and then shrugged exaggeratedly.

"Whoops." The other two adults in their little group face-palmed.

"So…" Kuroba said, clearly mentally face-palming (and seeming a bit embarrassed). "What were you three talking about? I'm about 90% sure that everyone in the area right now could hear you even when you were only halfway up here?"

"Ah, we were just reminiscing about the good old days." Yuuya said at the same time as Izzy airily answered:

"Oh, they were probably talking about one of the gazillion pranks they inflicted on Kunugigaoka."

This made Kuroba look like he was about to explode.

"Dad, you _helped them_ with _pranks_?"

"Oho, well now, doesn't this seem fun?" Tada jumped at Karma's remark, having forgotten that he was there, so unexpectedly caught up in listening he had been. Karma noticed this, and chuckled.

"What do you say we go meet them? I'm going to be going inside to look around anyway…."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Tada said, then wondered just why he had said that so easily, given the sudden gleam that had appeared in the eyes of his family friend. _You'll just have to weather it…._ he thought, and then he walked around to the front, Karma strolling close behind. Tada thought to say something to Kinomoto, who was still with the flowers, but almost as soon as the two of them left, a group of museum visitors occupied their space, and thus Kinomoto ended up cheerfully busy again.

"Ah, Tada-Chan, you've not met our father yet, have you?" Izzy asked, spotting him instantly and grinning widely. Tada shook his head slowly.

"No, I haven't…." he said carefully, turning to face the man-who, now he realised, had a strong resemblance to his older son. "Um…I'm pleased to meet you. I'm one of 3E's Class Representatives, Tadaomi Kitakawa, but you can-"

"You go by Tada, if I recall correctly." The man interrupted. "I'm Shinjuro Kuroba. It's good to finally see the face attached to the name that came up with the whole Ending the End Class idea in the first place."

"I…well, erm…..ah…." Tada trailed off as he realised Shinjuro's gaze was now fixed behind him, and he turned to see that Karma was just standing there, studying Shinjuro and Kuroba carefully. Father and son seemed perplexed, but neither said anything, just opting to stare, instead. It was an odd thing to witness, as though they were all in a little bubble while the rest of the festival bustled on around them. He wondered if any of them would actually do or say anything when unexpectedly, Karma broke out into a smile, and stuck his hands into the pockets of his smart casual trousers.

"Hey," he said. "I like your hair."

This was when Tada realised that all three of them-Seijuro, Kuroba and Karma- were redheads. The father and son's hair was a tad brighter, but they all definitely and undeniably had red hair. _Oh my freaking gosh, Karma-san! Why?_ But still, Tada could not help laughing, and Izzy, Yuuya and Naoya found the situation similarly funny, and cracked up accordingly. Shinjuro did not crack up, but his mouth twitched as he stuck a hand out for Karma to shake.

"Well now, I didn't think that my first ever encounter with the famous bureaucrat Akabane-san would be quite this….interesting."

"Well, I aim to surprise, what can I say? It's good to meet you too. Are you the astrophysics Kuroba or that of the Kuroba Medical Company?"

"Technically, both. The latter is my inheritance, whereas the former is my current career."

"I see, I see. That sounds like a busy life."

"I would imagine being a bureaucrat is much the same."

"Ah, you've got me there, Kuroba-san."

"Shinjuro, please."

"Well, then, it's Karma to you." He smiled broadly. "So, what do you say we take a look around the kids' museum, and you can tell me about your busy life? And possibly also the pranks you carried out on the school back when you were fifteen."

This made Shinjuro chuckled ruefully. Tada grinned at the sight, though he himself felt that this could only lead to craziness. That being said, at least Karma was an adult. If it had been Kou who was here, then he suspected things would have been so much worse. In the most hilarious way possible.

"You heard us then?"

"Ohh, yes." Karma looked like a cat who had got the cream. "So?"

"Well, I certainly don't mind. Yuuya-kun, Naoya-kun?"

"Aha, of course. I can't wait to initiate you into the Order of the Evil Lords of Prank Planning." Yuuya said cheerfully, as Naoya shook his head in mock-despair.

"Ah, well…..Yuuya-kun, was it? I hate to break it to you, Yuuya-kun, but…" Karma did not look like he hated it in the slightest. "…since I was in 3E before you, I think I _invented_ the Order. So I don't need initiating."

"Aww…." Yuuya pulled a mock-devastated face, and Naoya patiently patted his head and murmured something that sounded suspiciously like 'there, there'. Tada shook his head in amusement, and when he looked over to see what Izzy and Kuroba were thinking, he pulled a 'what can you say?' face at them and shrugged, before turning back to the adults.

"So, do you want a tour of the museum or…"

"You should get Li'l Aoshima-Chan to show you around, Shinjuro-san." Izzy put in, nodding.

"Thank you for the offer, but I reckon we'll be fine just wandering around ourselves. Am I right?" Karma asked. Shinjuro nodded.

"Yes, I think so. Thank you for the offer though, Tada-kun."

"No problem."

The group went in, and Izzy and Kuroba headed elsewhere. Tada was about to go and help with serving people in the café area when a middle-aged woman approached him, frowning and laden with shopping.

"Excuse me, this is Class 3E, isn't it? And are you a member of theirs?" There was an obvious distaste in the woman's voice as she asked this, but Tada remained light and polite as he answered her.

"Yes, it is. Are you alright, is there something you need."

"My son and my niece are on the main campus." She said, a touch sniffy as she did. "I didn't even know that you were running an attraction here in the first place. It's so hard to get up here, I can't imagine how that works, or why it is allowed."

"Well, we are still part of the school, so we take part in the festival. Though, of course, because of the location, it is a lot harder. " Tada wondered if the woman had a point, but waited her out.

"Yes, well, I probably wouldn't have come here, but I found this in the bags my son's class have been giving out." The woman rootled around in one of the bags of what Tada had initially assumed was just typical grocery shopping but he now knew to be from the Class 3B jumble sale, before she pulled out one of the leaflets they'd used to advertise the museum.

"I didn't expect that the main campus would bother advertising this class but…since I have this….." The woman hesitated, and pursed her lips before seeming to think 'oh, to hell with it' and continued.

"Could you show me what all this is about?"

Tada beamed at her, and gestured to the entrance.

"Of course I can. Come this way, please."

* * *

 **The woman at the end won't become a major character, or anything. She's just an example of how things can and will change for the better, when it comes to attitudes towards 3E, especially when it comes to how the museum will carry out these changes. As for the Suzuki/Yari thing...how I ended up writing that out turned out a little clunky in comparison to how it played out in my mind (ah, the trials of writing), but this, in a way, was about different sorts of long-term loves. Not all relationships need to be founded on the whole insta-attraction/ love/lust-at-first-sight sort of thing, and I feel like that seeing this from Maehara's perspective, a character who's a bit of a playboy (not a cheating type, just someone who likes the ladies), sort of gives a new slant to that. And I figured that it was an interesting way to look at the various different characters and relationships in this story, and the characters in it. Maehara's explanation of Yoshida and Hara's relationship is basically my headcanon about how they would end up in the future. Another exhibit of my 'weird' ways of shipping people.**

 **And anyway, something to clarify regarding that- you might notice that throughout this story, the few times she has been mentioned, Hayami is referred to as such in-text, despite the fact that here, she is married. Part of this is consistency- most of the time when I write her, I have referred to her as such, and I didn't feel like breaking the habit here, because it wasn't necessary, because of course when characters address her the name changes depending upon who it is (she is 'Rinka-san' to Tada, 'Rinka-Chan' to Sugaya and 'HayaRin' to Kou, for example). But also, in my mind, I feel like how the various AssClass females would feel about being referred to by their maiden surnames after they are married would vary. I feel like people like Hara and Kanzaki _would_ mind a lot and would make this clear (so in this story, they'll be referred to by first names in-text as well as in speech, when/if they do appear in scenes or flashbacks). Hinano and Manami...would remind people, but also wouldn't be too worried about it as such (and I use their first names normally anyway). And Hayami, I just don't think she'd mind at all. It's really only going to be her 3E classmates who do this, after all, so it just...wouldn't be that strange to her (though of course it would be awkward if they also happened to be around someone who _didn't_ know her maiden name). So I just don't think it's a thing she'd get too hung up about. And...I'm guessing you don't mind about my name usages as long as I am consistent, but I thought it was important enough to explain. Apologies for the wall of text =P**

 **So...anyway...the whole Karma telling the Kurobas that he likes their hair is a joke I have been planning for ages. You probably have to visualise it in your mind with their voices for it to be funny, but yeah. I planned it for ages and now I got to use it, Bwahaha.**

 **That's all from me for now. I'll see you with the Sunday update, and in the meantime, do leave feedback!**


	63. Welcome to the Museum, part 16

**This chapter will be focusing on the third day of the festival, and the next chapter will be too, as it happens. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it, as always. And do leave feedback!**

* * *

 _It's really the third day, huh? That's so strange._ For some reason, in his mind, he had imagined that this museum would end up finishing on the second day, just as their acorn ramen café had once he had …..done whatever it is he had actually done to make Yuuji Norita wax lyrical about them online. But of course, this 3E had more to offer than that, so much more, and they delivered on that. But even so, the realisation that the museum was running for the full three days of the festival made things so much more interesting to watch.

Not that they weren't already interesting anyway. Of course, he had not been able to actually go and visit, for so many reasons, and so he hadn't been inside, but he got a good sense of things from hearing the various visitors talk about it and the questions that got asked and answered. Perhaps he could have snuck in during the night, for compared to a real museum, getting into the building he had once spent an entire year in was nothing. But he was supposed to be a protector, a guardian angel of sorts for these children, and so, he did not. But he had ventured out to look at the building properly last night. Utterly alone, and with no fear that anyone would come up and catch him, he had just stood at the building and stared at it. Imagined it in the bright light of the daytime, filled with his teachers and his classmates, assassination attempts and education opportunities happening simultaneously-never a dull moment. He had gone up to the cherry tree they had planted at the end of the year, after killing him and before graduating, and carefully, he traced the small carving that they had made- _sensei, Onee-Chan-_ so small and barely detectable considering how large the tree was now, but his fingers knew where to find it, recognised the words without needing to look. After all, the two of them had done that. He had done the first word, and she had taken on the second word. And afterwards, the entire class cried and talked about everything, while Karasuma and Irina had tried their best to console them, while explaining the practicalities of what would come next. There were so many memories that assaulted him just as he stood outside, and it had been so tempting to try and break in, to try and recall more. But he refused to, he could not do that. And so he didn't, instead retreating back to the forest and climbing up to the safety of the tree that seemed to be his now.

He didn't mind this, though. During the day, he had got so much from seeing the activity outdoors. A few 3E students were in the forest themselves, foraging for the supplies needed to make the acorn ramen and other things, and so he had kept an eye on them. He had seen many of the people who had made up other 3Es come up to see the museum, whether this was because they were in it, or they were just curious. Many possible new friendships had been formed as a result, based on such a simple point of connection: 'Oh, you were in 3E too? Which one? I was in the 3E of this many years ago', and so on, and so on, like with Karma- _Karma, I hope you're not too mad at me this time around-_ and Shinjuro. There were others who gawped at seeing various famous/well-known faces-'Wait, _they_ were in 3E?!' whether that was Sugino _-I'm sorry. I know we were meant to be best friends-_ or people such as Ema, Oshiro, Sawada or even Yari. And there were the many people who knew Isogai, Maehara and Megu too.

Some used the opportunity to better understand the situation that their child or their parent or their friend/significant other had once been in, or were currently in, such as Ayako's mother Naomi, or Seiji's little sister Tsukasa, or Kinomoto's older sister Satsuki. The 3E Second-Genners, too. It had been an oddly emotional experience seeing Sora walk in to the museum yesterday morning. He could not believe that the young man was 24 years old. Clichéd as it was, it felt almost like yesterday that they had found out that Megu, their straitlaced former representative who was working and studying in France had become pregnant. None of them would have figured that she would be the first to have a child, let alone out of wedlock (not that this was such a bad thing, just that this was _Megu_ , and it did not fit with what Fuwa had called 'everybody's headcanon of the one and only Ikemegu'). If anything, they would have expected Isogai to be the first to become a parent (though, he had been the first of all of them to get married-to Mari, his university sweetheart-, and ended up the second to become a parent, so they were close.). And all of them, in varying degrees, had been outraged and offended that Megu's boyfriend had run away and cut off all contact when he found out that he would be a father. But there had also been an odd sense of pride, both towards Megu for dealing with the situation with more dignity and grace than humanly required, and as a general feeling of seeing their own second generation begin. He could still remember the baby photographs so clearly and now, yesterday morning, he had seen the young man that that little baby, the first of their second generation, had become. And he had never dreamed that he'd get to see that far into their futures. And just as he had been proud 24 years ago, he was proud now. Because all the indicators were of a stable, brilliant young man who had been raised right and could handle his two different heritages with ease. Of course, he had wondered just how the first of their second generation would react to knowing that their class had been, but mostly, sitting in that tree and watching, he mostly felt the same odd sense of pride that they'd all had back then.

And then of course, there were all the apologies he'd witnessed. Many of those who had come for the sake of someone else they had known apologised for their misunderstandings, bad attitudes and hurtful behaviour towards these important people of theirs, apologised for not at least trying to understand. Bridges got rebuilt. In other cases, certain former 3E students apologised to their classmates, in the way that Yukine had done with Shiemi, for of course, it was not as if being landed into 3E instantly made a wiser and more open-minded person. They had all been fourteen and fifteen year olds, after all, and many of them with pre-existing baggage. Of course some of them would end up clashing and rubbing each other up the wrong way. Of course they would. And just as family members and other important people had tried to make amends to the 3E students in their lives, various 3E students attempted to do the same. He thought Kei was an example of that. The listening in and watching over didn't give him a full picture as to what the situation with Hana's brother was, but he had his ideas, and so he felt that the boy's bravery was indeed an apology. To Hana, and of course also to Asami.

It had made him wonder what would happen if he was able to step out into the open, too. If he could apologise for failing, failing to notice that she had snapped and was slowly unravelling, failing to notice what she had been planning, failing to stop her from carrying out that plan, failing to protect her. For failing to be a part of their collective futures. Everything. There was just so much that he had done that he should not have, and vice versa. There was blood on his hands, there to mark him forever. If there had been a way to change that, he would have loved to know. But it had been thirteen years. _I learned how to disappear._ He did not think that something like that was reversible, no matter how much remorse he held. And yet, in his mind, he rehearsed this impossible apology, editing it and imagining it as he balanced himself in the tree so that he could get a chocolate bar from his pocket, and then he settled back so that he was leaning against the trunk of the tree, and peacefully watched the morning, and all the different happenings.

Even at this time of the day, people were buying food as well as seeing inside the museum and asking more about the Ending the End Class project- of course, it being so early, most people were getting little snack-like things, such as the goods made by Fumiko and Tada, but there were also some who were trying some various acorn ramen-related dishes too. Watching them, he found himself remembering the tastes, feeling as though he was eating the samples of the various dishes himself, in that moment, as opposed to his convenience-store chocolate bar. _I wonder if it tastes the same._ Then he thought of the pleased look that Muramatsu had on the first day of the festival, leaving after he was satisfied how Haru, Hirigi and Akira were managing things, and he grinned to himself. _Of course it will._

As he finished the bar and scrunched the wrapper and put it in his pocket, he caught signs of a flurry coming up the hill, so he turned and looked there instead, standing slightly and holding onto higher branches for better balance. Sure enough, a large group were trooping up the hill, chattering and shrieking and giggling ecstatically- understandably, as most of them were younger children, ages ranging from three to five or six. But of course, they weren't unaccompanied- there were three women with them, making sure they didn't injure themselves or stray, and generally just keeping an eye on them. Two of the women carried children who were slightly younger than the ones who were walking, but it was the third woman, leading the group, who caught his attention the most, who made something constrict in his chest.

He would recognise that blossom-pink hair anywhere, after all.

Sakura. His first ever student, though technically at the time he had not been a teacher. What a joy it had been to see her grow up and blossom, and get to talk to her as she hit 15, 17, 20, 25. Kayano had treated her as a little sister, knowing what Sakura meant to him, and vice versa, and in time had even seen her as such. The rest of their class recognised her on sight and had talked to her a lot too. She had even tried to support him, when everything had fallen apart thirteen years ago. And yet, despite that closeness, she knew nothing. Not really. Sure, they had met because of the assassination classroom, but even with that crossover, she had never _really_ known. So he had to wonder what she thought of things, what she would be thinking now, as she returned. _I hope you're still well, Sakura-Chan._

He sighed, letting the sound disappear with the wind. At least, sitting here, he could see for himself.

 **…**

"This…well now, this is sort of nostalgic."

Tada was surprised to hear this from the pink haired woman as opposed to Misuzu Kanemoto, who had been a member of 3E 16 years ago. Then again, it was possible that the pink-haired woman, or even the other Wakaba Day Care worker had also been former 3E members once, even if they hadn't decided to join the museum.

"Principal, you used to go to this school?" Kanemoto asked as she corralled a bunch of three year olds while still holding onto the toddler she had been carrying, looking as surprised as Tada did at the revelation. The pink haired woman shook her head.

"No, but I knew people from here. Other than you, that is, Kanemoto-san." The pink-haired woman looked towards the café area, and something flickered in her blue-black eyes, before she turned back to Tada.

"I don't know if you got my name or not, but if you didn't, I'm Sakura Mukaido, and I'm the principal of Wakaba Day Care. You can either call me as the Principal or just Sakura, either is fine."

Tada nodded and introduced himself, and then stepped back as Sakura, Kanemoto and the other woman organised themselves.

"Okay then, is anybody hungry?" Sakura asked the children, once they were all lined up. Many hands went up, but the children also called out their answers.

"I'm hungry!"

"I'm hungry too!"

"Me too!"

"I want to eat!"

There were, of course, a few who protested the other way, and there were a few tantrums, but the three women dealt with this, and soon had the children in two groups.

"Okay, those of you who aren't hungry now can go and look around the museum with Kanemoto-san, alright? And the rest of us will be eating in the café. Then, when Kanemoto-san's group have finished, they will come to eat, and we will go to the museum. Alright?"

"Yes!"

"Okay then!" Sakura clapped her hands decisively. "Let's go then. Kanemoto-san, enjoy yourself."

"Yes, sure. Thank you."

"Kanemoto-sempai, did you want a guided tour or…?"

Kanemoto shook her head, adjusting her hold on the toddler, tickling her a little to make her laugh.

"No thank you. I'll be perfectly fine myself. But thanks for the offer anyway." She smiled, and then turned her attention to the children, who, though they were giggling and teasing each other and looking around, were patiently waiting. Clearly, the day care was a good place for them, and those who worked there did right by the children. Tada wondered if maybe that was the type of place he would end up working in when he was older, if he could not think of anything else.

"Well, are you excited to see what's in the museum?" Kanemoto cheerily asked the children

"YES!" their collective answer earned more than a few surprised stares.

"That's good! Now, we have to be careful while in there, so we don't break anything, but we can still have fun, so while we're in there, we're going to play a little game…"

Kanemoto headed into the museum, the small stream of children following her merrily. Tada grinned at the sight, and then went back to the café area, noticing that it was getting close to packed, and spent the next chunk of time mostly helping Fuyumi, Kaori, Izzy, Yamada and Azama to take orders, relay them to the cooks, and then serve them. Though it was a bit of a whirlwind, he did find himself going back to look at the other half of the Wakaba Day Care group, and noticed that Sakura was studying the surroundings intensely, as if looking for something, and when she caught his eye during this, though she smiled, there was something questioning about it too, as if she was trying to place him. A couple of times, when a younger child broke away from the group, if Tada's hands were free he would go and catch them and bring them back, and even then, Sakura gave him that searching look. It unsettled him a bit, but he figured he could wait until there was actually a chance to ask about it.

The chance came when Kanemoto came back with her charges, and Sakura stood up, along with the other woman, to hurry the children along, reminding them it was their turn to go to the museum.

"It's a very good museum." Kanemoto told him. "Certainly the most unique one I've ever been in, but I like it a lot. It….embodies good human values, I think. It's a good example for these little ones." She laughed, using her free arm to ruffle the hair of one freckle-faced little boy, who grinned cheekily.

"Thank you." Tada told her. "I'm happy to hear that."

"Tada-kun, do you think you could accompany us around the museum? Not for a guided tour," Sakura clarified. "But just if, you know, there are questions I have. Or something."

The way she said it suggested that there were many questions that she had, and since Tada had some of his own, he nodded.

"Sure, okay, hold on a moment." He looked around, and then spotted Tsukuda coming out of the museum, having finished a tour of her own.

"Hanae!" he waved until he caught her attention. She jogged over.

"Could you take my place for a moment?" he asked her when she reached him. "I need to assist Sakura-san and the others."

"Yeah, sure. Give me your apron, I'll go put it back while I just get mine."

"Okay. Thanks, Hanae." He said as he pulled off his apron and handed to her. She grinned and winked at him before she rushed off. Tada smiled after her, and then started to lead the way.  
As they headed into the museum, two little kids grabbed a hold of his hands-a little girl on his right side, a boy on his left. When he looked at the two of them in surprise, they beamed identical beams at him, and he realised that they were twins, and as this naturally made him think of himself and Hiro, he smiled back down at them, and let them stay. Sakura herself was holding a baby who seemed to be just over one years old-the one that the other woman had been carrying, rather than the child that Kanemoto had been looking after, and a couple of little boys stayed with her as well. That other woman seemed to go ahead slightly, with the rest of the children milling around her. And thus this left Sakura and Tada essentially alone together as they wandered the museum, studying the different exhibits.

"You look sort of familiar." Sakura said before Tada could ask anything. He blinked, not quite understanding.

"I…I am fairly sure we've not met before."

"No, no, not you, per se. But your look. It's like….does anybody ever tell you that you look like someone else?"

"Uh….my mother?" He wasn't sure that he understood the question, but this was the only thing that he could think of. Sakura considered him, and pursed her lips, nodding slowly. The baby she was holding fussed, so she jiggled her around a little, using the rocking motion to calm her, and when it worked, she posed her next question.

"Your mother….how much, exactly, do you look like her?"

"Uh…her hair was orangey, rather than black, and she wore it in a pony-tail while we were growing up, but the curliness and stuff is the same. My mouth shape I got from my dad, but as for the rest of things…yeah. I've been told there's a resemblance. And….yeah?"

"What happened with her, then?" Sakura had clearly had a different question poised and ready to be asked, but as she had been studying him, she had not missed the heaviness around his words.

"She died. Cancer. Near the beginning of this year. I…um….did you see the plaque near the entrance to this room?"

"I saw it. I didn't read it."

"I see…well, let's go back there."

They did just that, and Sakura spent a long time staring at it, before turning to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss." She said, excessively formal. Tada just nodded at her, and she turned back to look at it.

"I remember her, a little bit. At the day-care, when her class came to help at the day-care while the old principal was in hospital. "

"I see…..no, actually, I don't? What are you talking about?" Tada asked. Sakura gave him a surprised look, and then laughed, a soft, sad sound.

"You were never told? Your mother's 3E helped out at Wakaba for two weeks, after the old principal fell off of his bike and broke his leg. They were….pretty amazing, actually. You wouldn't imagine that they had only been around for two weeks, or that they were just a bunch of fourteen and fifteen year olds."

"Oh? How so?" Tada asked.

"You know what the place looks like now, don't you? High quality, looks expensive, all that." When Tada nodded, she continued.

"It wasn't like that before. The old Principal….he was a kind man, and he often gave discounts to poorer families, that kind of thing. So he couldn't really hire builders or anything, and couldn't always buy toys and things for us-not that there weren't any…..but anyway, he was an old man, even then, and so….yeah. Then that 3E came along and…..transformed things. I wasn't impressed with them at the beginning- I was ten years old and already bitter, but that changed too. They….were amazing. And continued supporting us. You know at the end of that school year they gave the day-care this huge case of money, just for Wakaba alone? They claimed they had raised it for us, but it was such an impossible amount…still, wherever they got it from, it was legitimate, and they gifted it to us, and…."

"And you are grateful to them all." The detail about the money snagged on Tada's mind, but he couldn't figure out what the big deal was. And of course, there were other things he didn't quite get about the story. _There is more to this than she's said already._

"Well, of course."

At this point, they stopped talking about it, and looked around the exhibits, Tada occasionally explaining a few, and keeping the little children satisfied. At one point, he ended up carrying the twins who had latched to him for a while, but in the way of children, they soon wanted to be let down to roam free again, and they went to join the rest of their friends.

After a while, the other day-care worker came up to them.

"I think they're getting a little restless now, Principal Mukaido. How about I take them back to meet Kanemoto-san, and then take them back to the day-care, and you can spend a little while more here?"

"Oh, but I-"

"Principal, we'll be fine for half an hour or so. Besides, the work-experience girl will be there by now. Between the three of us, like I said, I am sure we will be fine. So stay. You've got things that you need to ask the guys here, right?"

"I, well." Sakura frowned, and then relaxed. "Alright then. I will try not to take too long. Thank you. Fujimuto-san."

Fujimoto nodded, and then took the baby that Sakura was holding, before getting the children together and leading them out. They seemed eager to go, but the twins looked back and waved at Tada, who smiled and waved back. When they left, Tada and Sakura continued going around the museum.

"Say, Sakura-san….may I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"You said that thirty years ago you were attending the day-care….but you also said you were ten years old…."

"Ah!" Sakura laughed. "I wasn't attending in the same way the little ones do. I mean, I did at that age. But thirty years ago, I was bunking off of school. I didn't want to step foot in there. I was being bullied. The principal of Wakaba at the time was old, but he felt like my only friend, and he allowed me to spend my days there. Which I did. It was…fun, in its own way. I got to behave like a bossy big sister. But of course, my schoolwork suffered. Which is where that 3E helped….and also, brings me onto an important question. "

 _The one you wanted to ask all along?_

"How come Nagisa isn't on your museum's walls?"

Tada's eyes widened, and he stared at her for what felt like the longest time. Her hand on her hip, she gave him a quizzical look, though she also conveyed her need for an answer. _What….how…..what?_ Never had he heard his name said so honestly and openly by someone who had known the man. _Well, given they didn't even want me to know about him, that makes sense._

"I….erm….I'm not sure."

"But that's his voice, singing with the others. I would recognise it, anywhere. So, why not mention something? "Sakura frowned at him, and then shrugged.

"Ah, then again, I suppose you wouldn't have been able to meet him, am I right? Yeah, actually, that makes sense. Still…"

"Because of him being missing and all?" Tada asked. "It's been thirteen years now, right?"

"Y-yeah. You….you know about that? "

"Vaguely. I….erm….." _She knows him. And she wasn't in that class. So maybe…._

"What….what happened with him? And what was he like, before?"

Sakura considered Tada, sticking her hands in the pockets of her trousers, and frowned. Then, she looked away, as if thinking of the years gone by.

"Do you know how it was the old principal ended up breaking his leg in the first place?"

"No….."

"Nagisa's class were free-running across the rooftops of this town- _why_ , I _still_ don't know- but that was how they had decided to make their way home that day, and they ended up scaring the principal. As an apology, their class teacher sent them to us. And….it was a bribe of sorts, I think. The teacher didn't want it to get out that the class were capable of such things."

 _The painting. That painting._ Tada could visualise it, so clearly. The image that Sugaya had created with so much of, well, everything. Even with some of the other odd things Sakura had said- _a bribe, didn't want it to get out, an apology, I still don't know why-_ all he could think of was that painting, and the way they had looked in that image. When Sakura gave him an odd look, he shook his head to clear it, and made a mental note to direct Sakura to All Is Possible, if she had not been there before.

"No, I'm fine, go on."

"Anyway….the stuff about the free-running, I learnt later, but at the time, I was just _really_ unimpressed with this horde of fourteen and fifteen year olds descending on a place I'd thought of as _mine_ , and I wasn't prepared to give them the time of day. And I didn't, not really. Some of them seemed like they were born to hang around with little kids, and some of them put on a play which was….actually kind of okay. For the little kids. But I didn't want to know. And the kid who ended up gravitating to me and attempting to help me with my work-you can imagine that, with not going to school and all, I was falling behind-but anyway, that kid was none other than Nagisa. He was one of the shortest in his class, his hair was in bunches and he seemed so quiet. I didn't think he was much, really. But….he had this other side to him. I'm not sure how to explain it. Magnetic? Wise? Deadly? Sensitive? Astute? Enchanting? Possibly all of those.

"Yeah, all of those. Sure, he helped me with the work that was set and all, but also seemed to be the first person who actually understood what I was feeling, like when it came to my reasons for not being in school. And helped me to deal with it without just saying 'oh, suck it up and go to school'. You know? I was able to set things up with my teachers such that I could go in for my tests, then just leave once they were finished. Which helped a lot. Like…I just…..I don't _know_. But anyway, even once the principal got better, he kept coming back, to help me with work and preparing to return to school properly. I developed a bit of a crush on him, actually, but I was just a child, so it wasn't a big deal. Those feelings levelled out as I grew up. In any case, I was more proud of knowing him than anything- I was his first ever student, you know."

Sakura grinned at that for a moment, before settling back into seriousness.

"And he was a born teacher. I'd imagine that if Kaede-san hadn't….done what she did, if the stuff that followed after that wouldn't have happened, then he would still be a teacher. I'd still go out to dinner with the two of them on the first Saturday of the month, and for lunch with him only on the second Sunday of each month. Maybe they would have married. And had a kid or two. He would have been a good parent, you know. It's strange to think about, but I could tell from how he was with me as a teacher, that he'd be good at parenting. But anyway, if thirteen years ago hadn't happened, then perhaps those things would have instead. You would have been able to know him….."

"Yeah….I would have liked that. To know both of them, actually. What….happened to them? Do you know?"

They were outside again at this point, and so Sakura stopped. She looked up at the tree that had been planted there after the 3E of thirty years ago- _Mum's class, Nagisa-san's class_ -and sighed.

"I….yes, and no."

Tada didn't need to ask what she meant, for she explained straight away.

"As soon as I found out, I went to their apartment, went to check up on Nagisa. I mean, his friends had rallied around pretty quickly, but I decided to stay. I mean….he was a mess. Devastated. He was just about holding on so he could support Kaede-san through the justice system and all, and so that he could teach the class he had that year. It was like….everything he thought he'd known about her was shattered. I mean, I was pretty shocked as well. Kaede-san was so perky, and sweet, and pudding-obsessed and looking forward to the future. And she seemed so in love with Nagisa. He was, with her. I mean, they were both so dorky and awkward about it all through high-school, it was so _embarrassing_ , and it even took him a while to cotton onto her feelings for him in the first place, but _finally_ they got together, once university had finished and….man, they were happy together. It was hard to see her as a cold-blooded murderess. I couldn't imagine that she'd throw it all away like that, no matter how angry she was at this man for whatever he did to her."

"Angry?" from what Kuroba, Izzy and Hana had said, it had seemed clear there was some component of rage to the crime. The photograph with the dead gold eyes suggested as much too, somewhat contradictorily.

"Yeah, angry. Nagisa was a bit edgy about telling me specifics about what had been done, never really saying more than what was in the newspapers….well, before the media blackout. And of course, because of the media blackout, civilians were kicked out of the courtroom. But somehow, I got the impression this was a revenge crime, a specific sort of revenge. But anyway, there's not much use me blabbing on about that, because honestly, I don't know. You want to know about the afterwards, don't you? About what made him disappear?"

"Yes, please." Tada wondered what Sakura would say. Now they were getting onto this, something in her face seemed almost to have folded, weighted down by grief and guilt.

"I waited outside the courthouse for him on that last day, even though it was a late trial ending late. I mean, I was free at the time, none of his other friends in that class were, so yeah. But he didn't see me, or hear me, and though I did pursue him, I lost him. And…..I got the feeling he needed to be alone, so I figured, I could just pop around the next day before going off to work, or call him. But he didn't answer his door, or his phone. I messaged some of the classmates on social media, figuring that he'd gone a little recluse, but once we dug him out with friendship-support and stuff, it would be fine. But then the next day, he didn't answer, and when I dropped by his school in the evening as a surprise, all the staff there said that he hadn't turned up. He had become more than recluse. And so we reported him as a missing person. Well, his classmates did. Specifically, that ikemen one. Isogai-san, that was it. Him. But the years went by and…..well, we heard nothing. But the nothing had different definitions-for me, literally nothing, but for them, there was clearly a something. To be fair, for the first year, we were all as clueless as each other, but apart from that…the class were hiding something about his disappearance. Some years back, I got in touch, asked if anything had happened on that front. I…..got a non-answer. Apparently he was okay, but not coming back. That he wasn't missing anymore, but they didn't know where he was, and probably wouldn't. Whatever the hell that means."

"Oh…."

"And really, I still don't understand. Just like I don't understand what happened to make the case so secretive, given that it was so clear-cut, a closed case. And I can't imagine what it was about all of that that would make Nagisa go to ground after the verdict. He knew from the moment she called him to tell him that she had just killed that scientist that either way, she would end up guilty. And whether that ended up a death penalty, a life sentence or permanent institutionalisation, the result would be the same. But though I had no idea about the details of the case, it seemed like the more he heard, the more….heavier, he became. And afraid, too. Oh, he was definitely scared. But still, I thought that he'd be able to go on. Even if it was a 'live in her memory' kind of thing. He abandoned his _students_. His dedication to them was nearly equal to his devotion to her. I…..whatever the story, it's clear that something about it broke him so much that hearing the confirmation of her guilt just made him bolt permanently. But I don't understand it. Can you even imagine something like that? Can you? What do you think would fundamentally _stain_ someone like that?"

 _Bereavement. Having your entire life meaning turned upside down. Realising someone that you loved might not have been who you thought they were. Stumbling onto pains that were meant to be secret. Everything. Absolutely everything._

"Ah, sorry. That was stupid of me to say? If I can't wrap my head around it, how could you? You're only fifteen, after all." Sakura rubbed her head, embarrassed.

Tada just thought of the photograph, the loose photograph that had been contained in the secret compartments. _I think I might have stopped being 'only' fifteen a while back. And it seems to me that perhaps Mum and the others stopped being 'only'_ anything _pretty quickly too._ He wished he had the picture here with him, tucked in his blazer's inner pocket, close to his body. Perhaps, when he arranged a time to talk with Maehara, Isogai (and hopefully Megu) about the album, he would go get the picture, and do just that. _Perhaps it will make me strong enough to hear what they have to say. Because oh, I'm so afraid._

"It's fine, Sakura-san." He told her. "No need to worry."

"Ah, that's good. " Sakura nodded, relieved. "I didn't mean to offload on you, but, well…"

"No really, it was fine. I enjoyed listening to you."

"Flattering." Sakura grinned. "Anyhow, I need to get back to Wakaba, so, thank you for showing me around, and I hope the rest of the day goes alright."

"Thank you." Tada nodded. "Have a good day yourself."

Sakura nodded, before briskly turning away and striding back down the hill. Tada stood where he was, and watched her as she disappeared. And he wondered what would happen, when the day ended, and the festival was over. What would come _after_. He needed to steel himself for it, after all.


	64. Welcome to the Museum, part 17

**Apologies for there only being a single update this week- I had extra hours at work this week, and then on Wednesday some relatives came to my place as part of their holiday, and I was busy with that (there are kids in that family, so when I say busy, I mean _very_ busy...), so I was kind of pushed for time to write. And generally, because the week has been tiring, I'm wavering a bit when it comes to writing. Anyway, I will try to return to double-updates next week, but if not, then the week after for sure. **

**I should have clarified this last chapter, but the surname for Sakura isn't canon, just one I gave her because...well, as far as I know, she didn't have a surname in canon, and I needed one for the story. =P** **But anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Ikuko almost froze when she heard his voice through the speakers, singing along with voices she recognised-her father, Maehara, Karma. _Hers_ was there too, of course, which was enough of a kick to the guts, but _his_... Even if the voice was not one she had heard for thirteen years, she knew it to be his for sure. Though she knew that this was no doubt a CD or something, some memento that had somehow found its way into the hands of Tada's class, there was something so….hard hitting about the way his voice sounded that she almost expected that he would walk through the door of the classroom, or that she'd turn around and he would be there, frowning at an exhibit as he studied it with all the carefulness he used for everything else. _Please, come back. We all miss you, even if some of us have to pretend not to remember you._

But of course, he wasn't there. Probably never would be. She wondered if she would find something about him in this museum, though. Based on the song, she thought yes, but the years of her life from the age of 10 suggested no. How to reconcile these two things, she did not know. But she steeled her shoulders, and just decided to deal with it. After all, she probably really only had an hour or so before she'd need to get back to her class- yes, it was the festival, and yes, they were all charmed by Sora visiting them, and yes, the other teachers had said that they had no problem with manning the fort while she went over, but even so.

It was sort of quiet at the moment, but there were a good few people around. Hana and Tsukuda were both giving tours, and Tada had offered to do one for her, but she had declined, as she sort of had a plan of her own, in how she would navigate the museum. She was saving the part about her father for last, treating it as a parting gift, of sorts. She wondered if maybe, she'd learn a different side to her father, or if the museum would amplify what she knew about him, and if the same would apply to _him_ , too. _Maybe it will be both. I feel like it would be both._ She wasn't sure why. But she didn't think about it too much as she went into each room, and looked at everything, noting all the names and the stories, wondering if she could perhaps use some of their stories in her own lessons, something to inspire them, or to use as an analogy. Certainly, there was a lot of inspiration here. She could feel it pulsing off of the walls. She was lucky that she'd never had to attend this school, that she'd never had to experience either side of the system it upheld so stubbornly, but that didn't mean she wasn't clueless about it-how could she be? It had formed the people who had formed _her_ , her siblings. Sora, Tada, Arisa, Youko, all the others who were '3E second-genners'. All of them. There was no way she couldn't know. And so, she felt the inspiration pulse off of the walls, and it made her feel pretty proud.

A few people came up to her and asked if she was a former 3E student as she made the circuit, but she did not mind, instead telling them about her father and just pointing them over to the attraction in which he featured- though she was saving it for last, she had still been able to recognise it from a distance. She spent some time chatting with Tsuwabuki about the various things he had found-some people had actually come and recognised items of theirs, but there were still a few on display, waiting to be remembered, and she was astonished at some of the things that had ended up lost. When she had finished with everything else inside, she decided to go to the flowers next.

"Oh, Ikuko-san! Do you want a little explanation of the flowers?" Kinomoto asked almost as soon as he spotted her, an eager smile spreading across his face.

"He says it's a little one, but it'll be long, trust me!" Ayako called from where she was sitting, busily typing on a laptop. Ikuko raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing there anyway, Takashita-san?" she asked. Ayako just grinned cheekily.

"Why, updating the blog, of course. It's kinda quiet and all."

"Can't argue with that one. How's it working out, updating every so often? Do you think it's making an impact?"

"Yeah, I think so. Do you still teach your class about us?"

"As if they could stop me! Anyway, you'd best get on with it, right?"

"Yup! Just make sure Kinomoto-san doesn't talk your ears off about the flowers, as awesome as they are." Ayako teased. Ikuko rolled her eyes, but decided not to respond to her. There were some times where she had to pick her battles, and this was not one she was going to pick. But even so, she grinned at Ayako before turning to Kinomoto and chatting about the flowers. Sure enough, Kinomoto was very enthusiastic about the subject, and she was impressed with what he knew, but she felt she was pretty good at turning potential monologues into proper conversations, if her class was anything to go by, and so she didn't feel as if her ears had been talked off at all.

"U-uh…..have you seen Akira-san?"

The conversation that she was having with Kinomoto screeched to a halt as the boy appeared, blinking a little.

"What's wrong, Kei-sempai?" Kinomoto asked, standing up and turning to face him. "You've lost Akira-san?"

Ikuko stood up too and studied the boy. He was dressed casually (and for some reason, had a crown of tiny flowers on his head), so he clearly wasn't a member of the class (as if the way Kinomoto had addressed him wasn't enough of an indicator), but he didn't seem that much older than them, maybe 18 at the most, so she supposed he was still in high-school. _So, I wonder why he is here?_ There was also something about him that seemed familiar, but she couldn't place it. And there was also a frail air to him that instantly made her want to protect him, a similar emotion that most of her students evoked in her, though of course he was a good bit older than anyone she'd ever be teaching.

"Yeah." He looked around and shrugged. "She went out for her break, and she was meant to come back about half-an-hour ago….I'm guessing she's just lost track of time while writing, but I don't know where she could be…."

"Ah, yeah. Akira-san's generally reliable, but this happens from time to time. But usually in class, not for something like this….hmmm, Ayako-san, any ideas?" Kinomoto asked. Ayako looked up and shrugged.

"I can think of a few….tell you what, I'll go look. Let me just….right, okay! I'll be off then." Ayako shut her laptop and bounded off. The boy nodded distractedly, and then his attention turned to her, and he just…stared. A blank but raw and direct stare, as if he had not fully grasped the social graces of the world. Ikuko wasn't fazed by this, and met his stare evenly.

"And who are you?"

"I…ah- Kei. Kei Aoshima. " he said. Ikuko nodded.

"I'm Ikuko Isogai." She told him. "Pleased to meet you."

After some hesitation, he took the hand that she held out, and shook it.

"Ikuko-san, Kei-sempai was a member of Class 3E, from three years ago. And he's also Hana-san's sister." Kinomoto explained.

"You…you know Hana?" The boy-Kei- asked, curious. Ikuko nodded, even as the fact that Kinomoto had just supplied triggered something in her mind. _Former 3E student, with a sister currently in 3E…..erm….._

"I've met her a couple of times. One of the others kids in this class-Tada-kun- is a family friend, so I met this class because of that. A 3E family friend, as it happens."

"Oh?" Kei's face scrunched up at this, and then, suddenly, his eyes sparked with recognition, and he smiled. It was hesitant and a bit wobbly, as if he'd had to learn how to smile, but it definitely was one.

"Oh! Of course. You're one of Isogai-san's daughters. Are you the one who wanted to become a teacher?"

Ikuko laughed at that, wondering just how her father described her and her sisters to the people that he helped, now that they were not little children any more, now that they didn't accompany him and play at his feet while he helped them.

"Yep, I was. And I am one now. "

"I see. What…what group do you teach?"

"I'm a middle school teacher, and so far my classes have been second-years. Are you interested in becoming a teacher, too?"

Kei hesitated at this, and looked at the ground. Then, he looked up.

"It might take me a little while longer to get there, but yes, I am hoping to do that. " He said, eventually. Then, he looked at her with a strange look in his eyes. A type of recognition, different to the one he'd had when he'd recognised her surname. But it disappeared just as quickly, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking after that.

"This….might sound strange, but being here is the first step. For me being able to do that, I mean. I've not been in school for a while and so…."

Suddenly, Ikuko realised who Kei could be. _Huh, who knew? That my jokes about meeting for real would actually end up a reality._ She decided not to just blurt out that they were already online friends, because that would be very strange, she knew. Instead, she hoped that the encouragement she offered would be enough.

"And now you're here. Which is brilliant, so don't you go forgetting that now, as you plan the next step. There's no reason at all why you won't be able to get where you want to be, just because of some missed school."

"It's….it's…..a bit….well, erm…." Kei looked around him, and fidgeted nervously.

"It's a little bit more than that, actually." He did not look her in the eye as he said this, seeming embarrassed. Ikuko sighed patiently. She felt pity for the boy, and a wave of admiration. If her suspicions were correct, his being here was very, very brave.

"Well, whatever it is, we can figure it out. I know you're not my student, but I can try my best to help you anyway, the same way I would with one of them. I'm a teacher, after all, and always will be, at the core, anyway." _There isn't anything else I could have become, or would have wanted to become._

Kei looked up suddenly at that, something flashing in his brown eyes. He studied her for a moment, and then the odd flare of recognition appeared again.

"Uhm…..could I ask you something?" he asked, awkwardly.

"Go for it."

"Your….your middle school class? What are they like with maths?"

Remembering the online conversation, Ikuko realised that Kei must have had the same suspicions as her, and was, in his own way, trying to feel them out. She stifled a chuckle at this. His awkwardness was endearing, and she found herself wondering what Hoshiko would make of him, given that they were the same age.

"That's an odd question to ask, Kei-sempai." Kinomoto said. Neither of them replied to him.

"They can't stand it, can't seem to quite grasp the subject. They will, at some point, I'm sure, but it's not now."

"And…the twins in your class…..they always get mirror-image answers in maths?"

Ikuko laughed.

"Not always, but often enough that it's creepy. And to a baffling extent. And you, you like spoken poetry and theme parks, am I right?"

Kei nodded firmly at this, and then just blinked at her, at a loss about what to say. At that point, Ayako reappeared with a very embarrassed Akira.

"Hey, Kei-san, I found her! You can chill now!" Ayako called out cheerily before disappearing back inside.

"Sorry." Akira muttered, holding up her notebook. "I had a burst of inspiration and lost track. You can have your break now though, Kei-san. Is that alright?"

"Ah, yes, sure." Kei told her. "Thank you, Akira-san."

Still a little red-faced, Akira simply nodded before heading back to where the food was being cooked. Kei stared after her, and then rubbed his face. Ikuko's attention was drawn to the flower crown on his head.

"Hey, Kei-kun, why do you have flowers in your hair?"

Self-consciously, Kei smiled and touched the flowers.

"Ah. I made a friend here." He explained.

"A friend?" Ikuko asked.

"Ranko-san. Or rather, 'Princess Ran'. Sugino-san's daughter." Kei gave the most relaxed smile that he had shown during the short time she had been talking to him for. "Here, I'll show you."

He pulled out his phone and after a few moments, held it out to her. He was showing her a photograph, taken near to where they were standing now. Kei was kneeling next to Ranko, who looked adorable wearing a flowery white cardigan over a lilac and light blue dress that complemented her eyes. She was beaming, Kei smiling more reservedly, and they were both wearing flower crowns. Ikuko smiled at the picture. It had been a while since she'd seen the Suginos. It looked as if Ranko was doing well, which was good.

"Aww, she's grown quite a bit. Did she get attached to you, then, when Sugino-san came to visit here?"

"Yeah. They've come all three mornings, and on the first one, she seemed to decide that I was a prince. So I have been one, each morning, and we go around the museum together, or eat something in the café area. Then, once she goes with Sugino-san, I help with the cooking."

"I see, I see. And….." Ikuko treaded cautiously here. "And, you're alright? Not too overwhelmed, tired? Especially now."

Kei shook his head.

"It catches up with me after the day is over…..but I'm okay now, really. People are…..different to what I imagined. And it wasn't so bad, meeting you here and now….."

"Well, that's good to know." Ikuko deadpanned, but quickly became serious. "But seriously, it's great that you're okay and all. Things will get better from here on out, I can tell you that for sure."

"Ah….I….thank you….." Kei stammered, though he looked her in the eye. Then, he seemed to calm himself a little bit.

"So….have you finished with the museum yet, or?"

"I've been through everything except the attraction featuring my father…..but I'm saving that for last. First, I need something to eat, but just a quick thing, since of course I'll need to get back to my class, too. Actually….."

Ikuko trailed off, having an idea. _It's just a silly little thing, but perhaps it'll boost his confidence._ Kei gave her an odd look, and so she shook herself out of it and continued.

"I was thinking, you probably know the menu pretty well, if you've been helping with the cooking. How about you come with me, and recommend me something off of the menu? I'll treat you to something too, as well."

Ikuko waited patiently, and Kei considered. Eventually, he smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

 **…**

Carrying a stack of dishes to be washed, Tada noticed that Munakata and Tsukasa had also finished, and stopped by their table.

"If you're finished, then I will take those." He said, cheerful. Both nodded at him, and Munakata piled their plates together and handed them over. Then, the two got up, but did not make a move straight away.

"It's been quite fun, coming up here for all three days. " Munakata commented.

"That's good to know. We're all glad you've come up here, even though it could get you into trouble.

"I highly doubt anyone's noticed. " Munakata reassured. "We've not heard anything about it for yesterday or the day before, that's for sure. Right, Kashima-san?"

"Yes. The rule doesn't work. Not really." She frowned, and studied Tada intensely. Tada wanted to ask what was wrong, but for some reason, didn't.

"In any case, we should still go now." Munakata said.

"Yeah…." Tsukasa said, still frowning. Then, she sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and staring Tada down.

"My brother. Do you have a number for him?"

When Tada didn't say anything, she shrugged heavily, and scuffed the ground with her toe. Munakata stood by and witnessed the proceedings with no comment.

"Or an email address, or something? I…..I'd like to talk to him." Tsukasa shrugged again, lighter this time. "Or try to. "

"Ah, sure." Tada suddenly blinked, clocking what she was saying. "If you wait a moment, I will go and deal with these and then I'll get those for you."

"All right." Tsukasa nodded. Tada went off, and quickly offloaded the dishes onto Kaori and Yukiyama, who were the ones currently dealing with that side of things, and then went to the area where they were keeping their things, and riffled through his bag until he found his phone, a paper and a pen. Then, he sat down and scrolled through his contacts until he found what he needed, then wrote it on the paper. Once that was done, he stuffed the pen and the paper in his pocket, and then considered the phone. He thought about having that in his pocket too, but mostly, the only messages he would get were silly things from Kou or the occasional 'how's things on your end' from Hiro, and if he ended up giving tours or explaining the Ending the End Class project in detail, it would be ridiculously distracting to have his phone vibrating all the time. And he could always check it in the in-between moments. It was not such a big deal. So he put the phone back in his bag, and headed outside.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tsukasa-Chan." He called. "Here you go."

He took out the paper upon which he had scribbled the details, and handed it to her. She regarded it carefully, and then nodded.

"Okay then, thank you." She said, simply. She folded the paper carefully, then unbuttoned her blazer so that she could slip it into her inside pocket, and then, after exchanging a look with Munakata, they made their move back to the main campus. Munakata said goodbye for the both of them, and then it wasn't very long before they were out of sight.

Once they had gone, Tada noticed a few other people had finished eating and were getting ready to leave, so he got those cups and dishes, took them over to be cleaned, and then took off his apron and went to see if there were any museum visitors in need of tours. Sure enough, a group of twenty-somethings who had just arrived did want a tour, and so Tada took them around, and almost immediately after that a middle-aged married couple came along also wanting to know more, and then it seemed as if a chain reaction had been triggered, for most of the visitors who came after that seemed to either want a tour or just have someone come along so they could ask questions, and as a result Tada and those of them in charge of tours were kept on their feet continuously for a good while. But of course, none of them minded-certainly, he did not. It was a good way to end, knowing that people had been interested in what they were doing and trying to do, and that they would remain interested. He was convinced that this museum would end up being something that would tip the scales in their favour, and so it made sense to work hard to make that a reality. And so, that's what they did.

Finishing a tour for a retired museum curator (who, funnily enough, now spent his days visiting unique museums across the country), Tada went to get a sip of water before he shrivelled up and turned into parchment, and as he returned from doing that, he almost bumped into a teenage girl, knocking her baseball cap off of her head.

"Ah! Sorry!" he stepped back, and recognised Kasumi Hoshino. She grinned at him, and put a hand on her hip as she regarded him, before grinning cheekily.

"No problem, kid. Looks like you've been rushing around a lot. Is it busy in here?"

"Yeah, it has been. A lot of people have wanted tours, so I've been in motion a lot. Do you want a tour, Hoshino-sempai?"

Kasumi shook her head, and bent down to pick up her cap. She put it back on her head, but this time back-to-front.

"Nah, nah, I'm not here for long. I've got the day off to practise for a tournament with my team, and we're having a very late lunchbreak, so I just decided to pop over. I went to look at Sugino-san's stuff. I still can't wrap my mind around that, you know? Like, he is _amazing_ , a definition of success, and he was in the freaking _End Class_? Like, it's not much of an 'End' class if someone who ended up that successful came from it. Lots of people, actually. And now it's like, it seems such a silly thing? And yet….it was a big deal, being in it. Utter crap." Kasumi pulled a face as she ended her little ramble, and raised her eyes to the heavens, as if annoyed by her memories of the previous year.

"Yes, I know." Tada said somewhat uselessly. Kasumi grinned again.

"Ah, but you were kind. I remember you, always visiting the library and waving to us, and then wishing us luck on our entrance exams, and just generally not being afraid or disgusted by the idea of talking to us…."

"I didn't even know you were 3E students until exam day, when it got pointed out to me." Tada confessed.

"But that didn't change anything, did it?" Kasumi pointed out. "And then there's that girl, the impulsive one, when my friend Keiko got into trouble with some of the main campus guys from our year, she stuck up for her despite being younger, and she did the same for some others in my class."

"Ah, you're talking about Hanae." Tada realised. Kasumi nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's her name. Ah, you two. You two were….well, we're grateful, you know? To the both of you, and our kindnesses. So thank you. You'll pass that onto her, won't you?"

"Of course I will." Tada told her. Kasumi nodded, satisfied.

"Well then! I think I'm going to sample your menu, and then I have to rush back off again. Next time I look on the blog, I wanna hear that you completely kicked the main campus in the butt, you hear?"

"Yup! Good luck with the tournament."

Kasumi saluted him, and then jogged away. Tada headed back around to the front, and immediately gained a tour group with a very variable mixture of ages, which kept him busy for a while. Once he had finished with them, there were a couple more tours, and then eventually it started to get a bit quieter, and once he was satisfied that he wasn't needed he sought out Tsukuda.

"Hoshino-sempai came by." He said when he had found her.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, just for a while though. She wanted to find you to say thank you."

"Yeah?" Tsukuda raised an eyebrow.

"For standing up for her and her friends in their 3E, you know." Tada explained. Tsukuda nodded and smiled.

"Ah, that's nothing to thank me for. But it's nice, isn't it? Knowing you've made an impact."

"That it most certainly is."

"So…you taking a little breather?"

"Yeah….it was a bit hectic on the tour front, wasn't it?"

"Oh, I second that. But I think it's alright for now, so how about we go to a side and people-watch, or whatever you call it?"

Tada chuckled.

"'People-watching' is right. I like that idea, so let's do that."

They walked to the corner of the building together, and stood there, and did indeed 'people-watch', Tsukuda leaning against the wall, Tada standing straight, next to her, and they chatted a little bit too, about all manner of random things while they looked at what was going on around them. A little later on, Yukiyama strolled by, and decided to join them.

"What are you two doing?" he asked.

"People-watching." Tada and Tsukuda said in unison. Yukiyama gave them an incredulous look, which made them both laugh. Yukiyama shook his head in astonishment.

"Alright then. And…..what does this consist of?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, Yukiyama. Exactly what it sounds like." Tsukuda said. Yukiyama rolled his eyes, and rubbed his head in annoyance, but could not hide the smile that was spreading across his face.

"Honestly, you two…..anyway, Tada, is it okay if I go grab one of your cookies before they all go? I'll pay for it and all."

"Sure, go for it. Though, if there aren't any left, don't worry. I'm thinking of making some more things for the class later, perhaps just before we break up for the winter."

Yukiyama nodded at that, and started off again, ambling towards the café area, when he noticed something in the distance, and then stopped, frowning, before suddenly taking off.

"Where's he going?" Tsukuda asked, raising an eyebrow. Tada shrugged, and then they followed Yukiyama, but before they reached him, Tada saw what he had noticed-Hiro, rushing up to them, trying to say something and failing.

"Hiro! What's wrong, Hiro?"

Hiro looked at Tada accusingly, which took him aback. She opened her mouth again, trying to say something, but she was out of breath and a bit of a mess, and so once again, she failed. Tada noticed she was still in the clothes she had made specifically for her dance troupe to use in the festival, meaning that she had rushed straight from there to here. He wondered what was wrong.

"Chihiro, breathe. Take a moment and breathe." Yukiyama told her, stepping forward and putting his hands on her shoulders. Hiro trembled, and actively tried to calm herself down, get back some of her energy. _What happened, Hiro? What happened?_

"Hiro." When she looked to him, he raised his hands and started to sign. _"Can you tell me what happened by using your hands?"_

Hiro raised her hands in response, but they shook as she signed, and Tada only caught a few words- _Aunt, phoned, hospital_. Helplessly, he shrugged, and Hiro let out a frustrated groan. _What's going on? How do I find out?_ Stricken, Tada tried to think of a way to help his sister communicate what it was she so badly needed to say, but he came up blank, and all the while, she became more flustered and distressed, and a little wild too, as she kept trying and failing to say what she needed to say.

"Let me try." Yukiyama suggested quietly, his hands still on her shoulders. He moved slightly, so he was standing in front of her, and he leaned forward a little.

"Chihiro. Take a deep breath, and then tell me what you need to tell Tada, but slowly. And with as little words as possible, Just cut back to the bare facts. Don't worry about sound, I know how to lip-read now, more or less."

 _Of course!_ Tada had no idea why he didn't think of that, but he hadn't. Yukiyama, however, seemed in control, so he let him do it. From where he was standing, he could not see what Hiro attempted to mouth, but the seconds seemed endless, long, eternal. Tsukuda reached for his hand and squeezed it for a brief moment. And they waited. Eventually though, Yukiyama turned around to pass on the message, his face an odd mixture of glad and grim, relieved and concerned, as if unsure as to which one to be.

"Karasuma-sensei has woken up."

* * *

 **Yes, I am ending this big arc with a cliffhanger. Just as I had planned, Bwahaha...but anyway, now, the story will move onto 'after the festival'. I hope you're looking forward to that! And I do hope you enjoyed this chapter :) :)**

 **And...I was thinking about one of the later chapters and what it would consist of, and I was thinking of doing one that would just consist of some of the letters that Megu would have secretly written to Sora. I think it would be an interesting complement to the chapters where Tada and the rest are told about what happened in person- Megu is not likely to be in those chapters, since it isn't feasible for her to constantly be on Skype or the like, right? And as she is one of 3E's mentors, I think her voice and views about the past should be given chapter space. So...what do you think? Would you be interested in a chapter like that? Or a similar alternative? And if you'd prefer a similar alternative, what do you think that should be?**

 **Anyway, as I said, I hope you liked the chapter, and as always, please do leave feedback!**


	65. So Then, What Comes Next?

**I didn't mean for this to take so long...but I unexpectedly had to go out on Sunday -.-' But anyway, assuming nothing unexpected happens, the next chapter will be out this Sunday! In the meantime- OH MY GOD DANGANRONPA! With the new anime series, I am slowly falling back into Dangan Ronpa hell and I am loving it. And I discovered a manga called Fukushuu Kyoushitsu (Revenge Classroom), which, despite having 'classroom' in the title, and having a main cast of a third-year middle school class, has absolutely nothing in common with AssClass. Well, apart from that and the fact one supporting character looks like he was made to be voiced by Ryouta Ohsaka and he happens to be the male class rep, just like Isogai is the male class rep in AssClass and is ACTUALLY voiced by Ryouta Ohsaka...but yeah. Wildly, wildly different. It's still good though. Check it out if you want to read something twisted and depraved and saddening. It's still on-going, and not all the released chapters have been scanlated yet.**

 **But, enough of me babbling. Here is the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

As the students chattered and buzzed around him, Hasegawa frowned at the graphs stuck up to the wall. In one way, they were pleasing- his class were the highest earners, the most popular, the 3B Jumble Sale had come second, and in third place was the historically accurate haunted house that the Paranormal Studies club had done. But what didn't please him was the fact that the second place did not belong to a main-campus class alone-it was a draw, between the 3B Jumble Sale and the 3E Museum. _How….how did this happen? How did I underestimate them so badly?_

He studied his classmates carefully. Clearly, the measures they had put into place had not been enough-some students must have been able to get by them, must have been able to slip away to visit the museum for whatever reason. He would need to find out who, and confront them about it. But right at this moment, he was clueless and uncertain, and he hated it. Hated how 3E had undermined him, this school, everything. He could hear the evidence of how they had undermined everything all around him.

"They got into second place, huh? How did they manage to do that?"

"Perhaps their museum was actually interesting then. "

"I heard that they were selling ramen made fresh from supplies found in their forest."

"Oooh, very survivalist!"

"Hey, maybe that's how they got the numbers. All those survivalist, back-to-nature types and all. "

"Perhaps, but you know, I read online that it's been done before, with a different 3E a long time ago, and this class tried to replicate it. "

"Ehh, really?"

"Well, whatever they ended up doing must have been good, right, if so many people actually took the effort to go up there and all."

"Hmmm. I'm thinking now, it would have been nice to go up there and all."

"Yeah, me, too. Even though they're 3E."

"Exactly."

Hasegawa's head started to throb, and he stepped to a side before he tore into the students. It was hardly their fault, as such. And the festival was over. They would not be seeing that museum. And yet, the fact remained that 3E had made an impact. Otsuka, Fujimura, Otonashi and Maeda joined him.

"I was just talking with some people I know in 3C, and I heard that Class 3B were giving out the leaflets that 3E got done to advertise their museum." Fujimura told him quietly.

"How'd they manage to do that without anyone noticing?" Maeda asked.

"I believe they just slipped the leaflets in the bags they were providing for people." Fujimura answered.

"That's…..kind of clever." Otonashi frowned. "Sneaky, though. What do you make of that, President?"

"I agree with you, Otonashi-kun." Hasegawa said slowly. "That is clever, and sneaky, and might go some way to explain the results here."

"Tch. They're going to be insufferable. Can't we do something about it?" Otsuka complained.

"I am thinking about it." Hasegawa said bluntly. "Obviously we need to address this as quickly as we can, but this turn of events is too unexpected to have a plan straight away."

"Perhaps though, we should have come up with a back-up. We did know that 3E weren't backing down any time soon, after all." Fujimura pointed out.

Hasegawa gritted his teeth, and was about to deliver a cutting response when he caught a movement at the door. Principal Okikura was standing there, quietly studying the hubbub. Hasegawa stared back, and waited for Okikura to catch his eye. When he did, he nodded slowly, and beckoned to him. Hasegawa nodded back, and turned to Otsuka.

"We should go, Otsuka-san. Fujimura-kun, Otonashi-kun, Maeda-kun, I shall see you later."

 _Something needs to be done._

 **…**

Tada found himself holding his breath as he and Hiro patiently watched Karasuma drink a glass of water. Part of him wondered if this was a dream, or a trick, if the scene in front of him would fade and he would still be at the festival, people-watching with Tsukuda. _Karasuma-sensei is awake. Finally, he's awake._ All the feelings he felt because of this were bursting at his seams, but somehow, he kept it in. These were feelings of the waking world, feelings that had amassed over a long time period-no use springing them on somebody who had only just returned to it.

That, and Tada was exhausted. As soon as Yukiyama had interpreted Hiro's message, Tada had rushed to get his things, and at that point, Hiro had got back enough energy that they took off instantly, running all the way to the hospital. They slowed down only when they were through the doors, and it was then Tada discovered missed calls from Chika-who had gone on ahead- and many messages from Hiro. Though it was technically Tada and Hiro who were the next-of-kin, Chika was an adult and one who was their guardian, so she had been contacted first, and then she had contacted the both of them, before heading down to the hospital herself. By the time they got up to the room, the doctor had done some brief checks on Karasuma, and had let them be so that they could talk to him, though the doctor did say he would need to be back soon, for more. Being awake was only the beginning, after all. And now, they were here.

"Doctor Sawamura tells me that I've been under for ten months." Karasuma stated, bland and cautious, as he set his almost-empty glass down on the bedside table.

 _January. November._ Tada considered. He had not thought of the time that had gone by in numbers, as such. But the end result was the same, and so, he nodded. Karasuma nodded back, soberly.

"I hope….I hope I did not worry you too much. I did not expect that to-"at this, Karasuma turned to Chika. "What happened? To Mamoru? Did he…..?"

"Yes, he did." Understanding what Karasuma was trying to ask, Chika closed her eyes and grimaced for a moment, before fixing her gaze back on Karasuma.

"They came to me, afterwards. They weren't alone. You did not fail, on that count." She declared, quiet but trembling. Karasuma sighed, and seemed for a moment to contemplate this.

"I failed in preventing him from taking that course of action. But….I am back now. No doubt, I am not the same as I used to be. But I am back."

"Yes, you are." Hiro agreed. "We missed you, Karasuma-sensei."

"Yeah. I'm happy you're back-we're happy you're back." Tada agreed. Karasuma smiled at that, and reached out to pat their heads in turn-first Tada, then Hiro.

"They've been visiting you frequently, you know. " Chika told him. "Very frequently. Just as you've always been there for them, they were there for you. Of course, there were times, such as with the exams, where they didn't come as often as they would like, but they made sure to come. They made a point of it."

"I….I talked to you a lot, Karasuma-sensei. About lots of different things. Did you…did you hear any of it?" Tada asked. It was a silly question, but he had to know.

"I…I do not think so. I think I recall your presence, in a hazy, blurry manner, but no content. I am sorry, Tada."

"No, it's fine. " Tada smiled. "Besides, I can tell you it all again, now you're awake. Right?"

 _And I can ask you things, too. So many, many things._ Tada quashed the thought as soon as it came-Karasuma hadn't been awake for long, after all. A quick look exchanged with Hiro revealed she had similar sentiments.

"Yes, that would be fine. More than fine." The words were different, but they also sounded like 'I missed you, too'.

"So then, for lack of a better place to start, how has sch-you're wearing Kunugigaoka uniforms."

Karasuma ground to a halt, and stared at them, scrutinising them from top to toe, only noticing their clothing in that moment. His frown deepened, his expression becoming horrified.

"You're wearing Kunugigaoka uniforms. "He repeated. "As much as it's an obvious question, I have to ask-why?"

Tada and Hiro exchanged looks. It was Hiro who answered.

"We go there now."

"You go there." Karasuma sounded incredulous. Offended, even. "You _go there_."

"The responsibility for that lies at my feet, Karasuma-san." Chika jumped in. "I was aware of Hinano-Chan's feelings about the school, and I figured that they were yours too, but once they were living with me, continuing to attend Riverside wouldn't have been practical-they would have had to transfer anyway. But I did not realise the scope of it, what the school is like. I just thought about the prestige, the standards they have, and well, they accepted the twins. It…..did not go how I imagined it would, but at the same time, they've made the best of it. It's something to be proud of, really. But still, you can castigate me if you wish, as the responsibility lies at my feet. "

Whatever Karasuma had to say was knocked out of him by Chika's response, and he took a while to find something else to say. When he did, it was heavy, slow and melancholy, the words taking time to form as he measured them carefully.

"They…..all promised…..promised each other. Hinano and her class. Unless they…. saw some sign that the system of _that school_ was….. changing for the better, …..that they would not ever, _ever_ try to send their children there, would not let them go through that system, even if they wouldn't have ended up in 3E anyway…the… only exception to this was the Akabanes. They believed that the best way to change something was from within, but then they moved to Kyoto anyway, so that ended up irrelevant. They…they promised this, to each other…it was one of their wishes and…as their teacher…I respected that. It was the….least I could do for them, respect their wishes, help them to uphold that promise. And now it turns out that in the end, I could not do that."

The words tired him out, and he closed his eyes. Worried, Tada and Hiro looked to Chika. She shrugged heavily.

"Karasuma-san. What's done is done, yes?"

A long hesitation, and eventually Karasuma looked at her, and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose so." He sighed deeply, his frown only relaxing a little. "Yes. So then, tell me. What it has been like."

"Karasuma-sensei, if you're tired already and-"

Karasuma shook his head, cutting Tada short. His face had softened.

"No. I want to listen." He told them. Tada nodded, and then looked at Hiro, who pulled a face.

"You've got more story than I have, so go ahead." She said.

And so, Tada did, explaining what Ending the End Class was and how it had come about, as well as the museum. Karasuma listened carefully to all of this, nodding but not asking any questions. He told him about the various different things that they had been doing, the setbacks and the successes, and all the people they had met. He told him about Tsukuda, too, for how could he not? Naturally though, he did his best to give Karasuma a sense of all his classmates. But eventually, his stories dried up, because everything circled back around to the things he was not supposed to know. _Koro-sensei. Nagisa-san._ It was there, tainting everything, and would be until he knew what it was, how to deal with it.

"What's wrong, Tada?" Karasuma asked, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Ah, nothing, nothing….I…erm…."

"You have a question of some sort, don't you? You may as well spit it out, Tada, no time like the present and all." Chika remarked.

"But….." _It's too soon,_ Tada told himself. _Too soon._ But at the same time, he also thought that it was after the festival. And though it had been Maehara and not Karasuma who had promised, he was still wanting a similar thing from the each of them.

"It's fine. I feel fine. I accept that it will be a different matter when I am actually trying to move, but right now, I'm alright. Don't worry for now, just say what you need to."

"Karasuma-sensei…." Hiro bit her lip, as she not-so-subtly looked over at Chika, wherein lay another problem. Though of course, she had no idea that there was an issue in the first place. _I wonder if she'd think the same as Aunt Chiyo, that Dad could and should have done better than Mum, if she knew all this. Whatever it is._ It was a sickening thought.

"Ah, I'll leave you two for a while. I'm actually hungry." Chika pushed away from the wall she had been leaning against, studying Tada carefully, which made guilt flare in his chest as he wondered if his new worry had ended up showing so clearly on his face. But Chika didn't seem particularly offended or annoyed.

"I also want to track down your doctor, Karasuma-san. Find out what's what with you, now that you're back with us. And of course, you will also be moving in with the twins and I, but one step at a time."

Karasuma nodded.

"That's fine."

Chika bustled off, and there was a weird tension in the air before Karasuma fixed his dark eyes on them carefully.

"Well then. What's the question?"

A million of them raced through Tada's mind, fighting to be the one that spilled from his lips, but in the end, he uttered only one word.

"Koro-sensei."

"What, or who, is Koro-sensei?" Hiro asked, almost at the same time as him, but not quite.

The reaction was immediate and visceral. The blood seemed to drain from him (admittedly, not such a strange thing, for Karasuma had become paler while asleep, but all the same, the change was palpable) and his expression became horrified again. But unlike moments earlier when he had realised that the twins were now Kunugigaoka students, there was something…. _otherly_ to this. Tada was not sure what else he would call it asides from that. And for one frightening moment, it seemed as if Karasuma was not there in the hospital with them, but elsewhere in some other situation, with other people. _Thirty years ago? With Mum and the others?_  
Hiro did not look at him, as they waited to see what would happen next, but she gripped his rolled-up sleeve tightly. When Tada glanced down at his arm, he saw her knuckles going white. He, for the millionth time, felt glad he had a twin, a sister. What would he have done, if he had been an only child and he had known and not known these things?

"I…..I am sorry. I do not know what you mean." Karasuma's reply, when it came, was stiff, but Tada saw red over it.

"Yes you do! You have to know! You were Mum's teacher too, weren't you?! And the knives came from you!"

"You worked for the government." Hiro's voice was quieter and thicker, but it gave a strong backing for Tada, nonetheless. Karasuma's gritted his teeth, and averted his gaze from them. His shoulders shook.

"Don't lie to us, please." Tada pleaded, trying to remain calm. Karasuma did not respond to this, but the shaking eased, although he gripped the covers of the hospital bed tightly, creasing them badly. Tada and Hiro waited, saying nothing. And after what felt like an age, he spoke again.

"Koro-sensei. Unkillable teacher. That isn't his real name, it's one they made up for him, right at the beginning. "

"Mum's class, you mean?"

"Yes. He was their teacher, their main teacher, after all. They needed something to call him in their everyday context. And that's what they came up with. I….I did not use or acknowledge that name though. Not until the end…"

"The end? When they….." Tada felt unable to say it, to put it into words.

"After they killed him." Hiro had no such qualms, it seemed. Though, as they waited to see Karasuma would say next, she still gripped his sleeve.

"That's right." Karasuma said, sounding ashamed.

"But…..why? Did they have to kill him?"

"He was threatening to blow up the earth at the end of that school year. After all, he had blown up the moon."

"I…what? I mean, I just….what?" _So in the end it meant something. The moon explosion occurring thirty years ago. The pictures in the album._

"That was the story he had when he appeared to us, making his demands. Well, I say demands. He really only had one- to be allowed to teach Class 3E at Kunugigaoka Junior High before he blew up the earth. We didn't know why, but really, he….that…Koro-sensei….simply put, he was a supercreature, an unknown territory. We had no choice but to allow him to do that….and turn it into a proper opportunity to get him killed. And I shouldn't even be _telling_ you this."

Karasuma shook his head in disbelief, closing his eyes for a brief moment, before regarding them with some worry.

"How do you even know his name, to ask about it?" he asked. Tada bit his lip, thinking how best to dress-up the answer, or if he should just keep it honest.

"The photo album. Mama's photo album." Hiro answered before Tada could decide, letting go of his sleeve, opting instead to keep her hands in tight fists settled in her lap. She was almost expressionless as she answered, but her voice wavered. Karasuma's eyes widened, and he looked over at them properly, assessing them to see if what they were saying was true. _But why? We wouldn't lie about this!_

"Kuroba-kun, in my class. He felt that something was wrong with the album and….figured it out." Tada said instead.

"We were using the album for the museum. Not the whole album, but we were looking for pictures from the 3E days." He added.

Karasuma just shook his head, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. But he was floored by this. That much was obvious.

"I….We're sorry?" Tada tried. _Can I undo this?_

"No, there isn't…..this isn't your responsibility, to worry about this. You shouldn't even know about this…."

 _But now, now it's 'after the festival'. So I want to know these things. Even if it wasn't Karasuma-sensei who promised us that, surely….?_

Karasuma sighed again, and then changed the subject.

"You two will have school tomorrow as normal, am I right?"

"Yes." Tada said.

"You want us to go." Hiro stated bluntly. Karasuma opened his mouth to protest this, then stopped, his mouth setting in a thin line. Then he tried again.

"It's getting late, isn't it? And you two have been….up to a lot."

"We're not tired." Tada and Hiro said in unison. Karasuma just levelled a _look_ at them, and it wasn't long before Tada wilted- because of course, he _was_ tired.

"Okay, maybe I am, but…."

"This isn't a kicking-out." Karasuma interrupted. "You two need dinner and bed, so that you can deal with the next day at school and the like. You can come back after school, obviously."

"Obviously." Tada agreed. All of a sudden, he realised that he had essentially just run off and left his class behind without any explanation. _Crap. I need to find out what happened, make sure everything went alright. There'll probably be a whole lot to deal with now, because of the reach the museum had and all…._ it made his head spin.

"Fine then. We'll have to find Aunt Chika, and then we'll go eat and sleep. And I am guessing you probably need some rest too." Hiro said, getting up first. Karasuma nodded, then leaned back in his pillows. Tada realised that Hiro was right-because of course, a coma was different to resting. It was still strange to think of that, though.

"Yeah," Tada said, getting up too. "You rest, keep your energy for getting better and stuff, okay, Karasuma-sensei?"

Karasuma nodded.

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Hiro signed 'goodbye' at Karasuma, and then they left the hospital room. They did not say anything as they headed to the lift, simultaneously deciding to go to the canteen to look for Chika. On a random side-thought, Tada looked around to see if Shiki would emerge, but she didn't, and so he let the thought go.

When the lift got to the ground floor and they stepped out of it, Chika was waiting outside, having just called the lift to go and look for them, which caused a few moments of amusement, before they went out to the carpark.

"I think that today calls for some takeaway, so I'll order when we're home. Do you have a preference for anything?" Chika asked as she started the car.

"Hmmmm….." Tada frowned as he put on his seatbelt, and looked over to Hiro. "Hiro, do you have any? Takeaway preferences, that is?"

Hiro shrugged.

"Lasagne or something like that? From the Italian place?"

"Ah, do you mean where we went for my birthday?" Chika asked. "Do they even do takeaway?"

"I believe so…" Tada said. Chika let out a puff of air, and then started the car.

"We can but try. If not, how does the easier option pizza sound?"

"I've had pizza quite recently but I don't mind. Hiro?"

"It works for me." Hiro said shortly, already focusing on what was outside of the window as they went by.

"Well, that's good."

They lapsed back into silence after this. Tada fiddled with his bag, and the once again thought of how he had just upped and abandoned the museum and everyone else, so he decided to check his phone to see if there were any messages. Sure enough, there were some. Most were text messages, but there was one voicemail, from Tsukuda. He decided to listen to that first, and put the phone to his ear.

"So…..uh, yeah, I don't even know if you'd even bother looking at your phone for the rest of today, all things considering, but this is worth a try, right? But anyway, if you do end up getting this before I see you tomorrow- do _not_ beat yourself up about leaving. I know that you're probably thinking like 'oh god, I've just abandoned them, will they be alright etc. etc.'- we are _fine_. I was there when Hiro came to give you the message, remember? And obviously the rest of them were a bit confused and all, but I told them….and Yukiyama did too, actually. So they all understand. And we've handled things, and it's all wrapped up, and we're pretty much ready to go home."

At this point in the message, Tsukuda paused for breath, and Tada could hear background chattering before she continued.

"Anyway, other things did happen after you'd left, and they're pretty important, but Eriko and Ayako and a few others messaged you those things specifically, so I won't repeat them and mess your brain up, because I'm supposed to be reassuring you here, not well, uh, bulletining you, or whatever you wish to call it. I don't think 'bulletining' is a word, but still. Just….I hope things are alright, with Karasuma-sensei. That you'll be alright. I know it will be different now that he's awake, but if ever you need me to come with you to visit him, I'm more than happy to do that. And…yeah, just, focus on you and your family tonight. Try and get some sleep, while you're at it. You've managed to get back into a good sleep cycle-don't ruin it now. And yeah, take care of yourself. _Breathe_. Don't beat yourself up for feeling. I've got your back, always, no matter what. And I love you. So see you tomorrow, Tada."

 _Hanae._ Tada kept the phone to his ear for a moment, just letting her words and the sound of her voice resonate and then settle in his mind, before putting it down so he could check the texts he had received. Oddly enough, there were a couple from Maehara, but in keeping with what Tsukuda had said, the others were from Eriko and Ayako, as well as Yukiyama, Fuyumi, Kuroba and Hana.

Kuroba's message was simple and to-the-point:

 _All is fine on this end. We tied second-place in profits. Focus on your godfather._

Yukiyama's was similar in nature, but did not tell him anything about anything that had happened:

 _I hope that your Karasuma-sensei is doing well. Don't worry about us. I told the class why you went._

Hana had sent a few messages, a mixture of information and sentiment, all delivered with her usual trademark affection, which seemed clear even in text message:

 _I heard what happened! That must be a big thing- so it's perfectly understandable that you had to go straight away. We do hope that your godfather is alright, and that he will end up alright. The museum is winding down to a close, and we've done pretty well for ourselves. I don't know if anyone else told you, but apparently we ended up one of the more popular ones overall! That's great, right?_

 _Also, Asano-san came along, and he wanted to know what had happened, and I gave him the last tour. I think he was impressed._

 _Kei also wanted to say that he hopes everything is okay- and actually, he wanted to thank you for letting him stay all three days. So do I, actually. Thank you! But anyway, we've managed the clean-up and stuff. Ichijou-sensei helped a lot, but we've not done everything- your mother's plaque is still up there. But there's always tomorrow._

Eriko had only sent one message, but it was a long one:

 _We were able to close up successfully, and we've done most of the tidying, too. All in all, it would seem that the museum has been a resounding success, and apparently we've rivalled some of the main campus attractions, too. Which is good, because Asano-san came to see us too, near the end, wanting to see how we were doing. He asked a lot of questions about everything, and how we were running it, and he also wanted a tour around the museum. And naturally, he was interested in the ramen. Apparently, he hadn't tasted it the first time around, for obvious reasons. But_ _I digress. Takashita-san will probably tell you, but the website has been absolutely bombarded in the last few hours, and I think many of those people will have also been contacting the school, wanting to know more. I have a feeling that we will be called in by the principal soon, so be on the lookout for that. That could be an important meeting. But anyway, I hope all is well with you._

Ayako's messages and Fuyumi's one message did not cover any new ground, just talking about from the other messages, though Ayako mentioned that Maehara had visited as well, and that he had been looking for Tada-which explained why there were messages from Maehara too. So next, he looked at those. One asked if what Ayako had said was true, and the next asked if everything was alright, if they needed someone to join them. Tada smiled a little at that.

 _We've just been in to visit him, and we're going home now,_ Tada typed. _But Karasuma-sensei seems to be alright…and we're fine too._

Tada considered the words, and wondered if he should say anything else, but then decided against this. This was the beginning, after all. Karasuma had only just woken up. For now, this was all he could say. So, he sent the message, then locked his phone screen and leaned back in the car seat and closed his eyes. And he wondered what, exactly, would be following on from this particular beginning.

 **…**

"Da-ad, your phone's going off. _Again_."

As Isogai closed the front door behind the guests who had just left, Satoko appeared at the top of the stairs, holding his phone in one hand and towelling her damp hair with the other, looking irritated.

"Did you answer it?" he asked her. Satoko huffed belligerently.

"Why would I do that?" she rolled her eyes as she came down the stairs and handed it to him, then paused and studied him as he unlocked the phone.

"It's not important, is it?" she asked him. Isogai didn't respond straight away, instead looking to see who the calls were from. He suspected that it was probably social services, or someone who had been given his number for emergencies (such as many of the children he was overseeing), but the calls were in fact from Maehara, one after another, relentless. There were a few messages too, all of them variations on commands to hurry up and pick up, or at least reply. Isogai sighed. _What happened?_

"No, it's just Uncle Hiroto." Isogai appeased Satoko. She nodded at that.

"Oh. I wonder why he would be so impa-"Satoko was cut off by another call coming through, and so she just sighed heavily and headed back upstairs while Isogai answered the phone to quell the violent vibrations.

"Hiroto, what's up?"

"Yuuma! You took your time answering."

"Sorry. It _is_ dinnertime, you know. Well, it was. We also had the Chibas over."

"Oh, cool." Maehara laughed. "I need to come around for dinner with all of you one day soon. With Touji and Youko, and Arisa if she's free from uni and whatnot."

"Yes, it's been a while since all of you were around, as a family. I'll ask Hinata-san too, perhaps? But anyway, that isn't why you called, is it? What's the big deal that you'd call so many times, so desperately as well?"

The last time such a flurry had been warranted was when Tada and Hiro had confronted Maehara about the album over the phone. And that hadn't been so long ago, he realised as he headed into the living room to sit down.

"Karasuma-sensei's awake, Yuuma."

Isogai wasn't sure he had heard that right, so it took him a moment to fully comprehend as he leant back in the sofa.

"I….what?"

"Karasuma-sensei is awake. He's conscious. Not in a coma."

He should have felt joy at that. And he did, but it wasn't the first thing to kick in. Instead, what he felt was his heart in his mouth, a replication of what he had felt 26 years ago, on the bridge and happening across the boy ready to take his life. The reaction startled him, making him sit up straight again, gripping the phone tightly as he did so.

"He-he is? Since when? Earlier today? How is he, do you know?" _Karasuma-sensei._

"Yeah, earlier today. I've not been in to see him yet….by the time I found out and I was able to get out of work, it was a bit late to be going visiting and all, but the twins went straight from school to see him, and apparently he's doing well. "

 _Thank goodness. We were all so worried._

"Ah, Tada-kun and Hiro-Chan went already, huh? Makes sense that they'd be the first to know and all…but did they…." Isogai trailed off at this, not wanting to ask the question that had formed in his mind.

"I don't think they did." Maehara guessed what he was thinking. "Though, according to their aunt-I contacted her later, once I'd heard from Tada-, Karasuma-sensei was troubled to discover that they were attending Kunugigaoka. Also, she left them alone a little while. But they're good, you know. Even if they want to know the truth, they wouldn't bombard him like that."

"No, no, that's true." Isogai agreed. _But, we'll need to do that, won't we? There's no choice, if we wish to move forward. It's not like we can bury and forget anymore._

"So…I think I can wrangle things so that I could use lunchtime to visit, and Yada's said she can too. I might ask Rio, too. Are you gonna come?"

Isogai mentally reviewed the things he had to do the next day, and frowned, trying to visualise how one event would follow on from the other, and thought of how a visit would fit in. Especially one that would take a while.

"No, I don't think so…" he said, sighing. "I suppose I might be able to in the evening, but there's this case review meeting and…."

"Ah, I see, I see. Don't sweat it, Yuuma, seriously. I mean, we have all the time in the world now, now that he's awake. Well, in terms of seeing him again and stuff. The rest….ah, I don't know."

"Yeah, I don't know either." Something made him glance at the doorway, and he noticed Mari standing there, watching him carefully. He held up a finger to indicate that he would only be a moment or so.

"But still, the main thing is that we know he's alright, right? And I definitely want to come along as soon as I can, but yeah, I don't think I can join you. Plus, once everyone else knows, he's going to be getting a lot of visitors. Maybe it's best if it's just the three of you going tomorrow afternoon."

Maehara chuckled at this.

"Right, didn't think of that. So, anyway, I know you've got the kids to think of, and I'm sure Mari doesn't want me taking up all your time, so I'll catch you later. Bye then."

"Bye." Now it was Isogai's turn to chuckle as Maehara hung up, and he put the phone in his pocket before getting up.

"Satoko said you'd gotten a call? Hiroto-kun, right? Did something happen with him."

"No, not him, it's fine." Mari narrowed her eyes at him, and he clarified. "It wasn't about him. It's Karasuma-sensei. He's woken up."

Mari's eyes widened, and she blinked.

"Seriously? Wow, that's just. I mean, in the grand scheme of some comas ten months is not that long of one, but….that's great. But you look troubled, Yuuma. "

"I'm not troubled, as such." A lie, an unforgivable lie, but he didn't have the licence to say anything else. _I'm sorry._

"I'm just a little bit….I haven't quite processed it, yet. So I'm happy, but it's a weird kind…" This, at least, was a truth, even if it was a vague, nonspecific one.

Mari pulled a face at him, and then leaned her forehead against his.

"Yuuma. Don't worry so much." She said, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm trying not to. Not that I'm doing a good job of that."

This made them both laugh.

"Yeah, I figured." Mari said. "In any case, since tomorrow is a no-go, how about we both go together, at the weekend? I'll make something for him to eat, because it's gotta suck, waking up and being treated to _hospital food_ of all things. Obviously, you're helping too. But yeah. It'll be fine. I'm sure Karasuma-san will be up and about and out of the hospital in no time!"

"Thank you, Mari."

"No problem." Mari smiled, and straightened. "But, anyway, I've put most of the kids to bed now, but Itsuki-kun's only run off and hidden somewhere, so you're going to need to help me look for him."

Isogai groaned, but was actually grateful that now he had a problem in the here-and-now, something solvable.

"Right then, let's do that. What places have you checked already….?"


	66. The Time Has Come

**I've decided to go ahead with doing a chapter that consists of some of Megu's letters to Sora. It isn't this chapter, and will probably only be in a couple of weeks time or so, but I'll give you a heads-up when that chapter is about to come. Just thought I'd tell you that, given that a few chapters ago I did ask what you all thought of that as an idea...so anyway, on with the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy it, and as always, please do leave feedback!**

* * *

"Karasuma-sensei, you look well! I wanted to bring flowers, but I wasn't sure if they'd be allowed or not. It doesn't matter though, because we went for the next best thing-grapes! "

Rio was grateful for Yada's stream of chatter, started as soon as they entered the room. She wasn't too bad at the whole chattering thing herself, usually, but there were things on her mind. _Nagisa._ That, and it was so odd to her that today, the person she would be visiting in hospital would actually be able to talk back. She had grown used to prattling into the silence. So as Yada continued her chattering and Maehara helped her put the things they had brought onto Karasuma's bedside table, she just quietly pulled up a chair and plonked down on it and watched the proceedings, a whole mix of emotions swimming in her.

Karasuma, whose attention had mostly been on the other two, turned to her after a few moments.

"Are you alright, Nakamura-san?"

This, unexpectedly, made Rio snort inelegantly, and she covered her mouth to supress her sniggers for a moment.

"Ah, Karasuma-sensei, we keep having this conversation every so often, don't we? It's Rio, 'kay?" she chuckled when she had recovered.

Sometime in her early to mid-twenties, Rio had decided she much preferred being addressed by her first name, particularly when it came to her closest friends and associates (i.e. her 3E connections. There had been no special reason, or momentous event that had made her decide this-it was just something she wanted. Thus, she had told those who weren't already calling her that to do so. Naturally, Karasuma had been included in this. And though he wasn't the only one to do so, he did forget on quite a few occasions, which she had found amusing then, and surprisingly found amusing now. If only because it was a reassuring constant. _I'm a dork._

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that, Rio-san." Karasuma said, a little too soberly (even for him).

"Ah, I can let you off this time." Rio joked, flapping her hand dismissively. "Being under for that long's bound to mess with memory."

"Ah, that's true. " Yada piped up, opting to sit on the foot of the bed. "You remember us, clearly, but…well, um, well, how do I put this delicately?"

"You mean, do I remember my recent history, and what led me here? Fortunately-or unfortunately, depending on the perspective- I do. Clearly. Mostly, I think it's my body that needs to recover." Karasuma said.

Rio, Yada and Maehara exchanged looks, and catching this, Karasuma sighed.

"Don't worry too much on my account, please." He asked.

"Pfft, you were our teacher once, and we still think of you as such. Nothing wrong with worrying about you a little. Plus, think of Yuuma. You think he's going to be able to be persuaded to not worry?" Maehara quipped.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, that's true." Rio rolled her eyes and grinned conspiratorially, just thinking about it.

"In any case, speaking of worrying, I think we'll all be doing a lot less of it now. I mean, you waking up was the most important thing, and we all know you're strong anyway, so yeah." Yada shrugged prettily, and then changed the subject.

"Are you up to eating anything, Karasuma-sensei? We could split some of the snacks."

Karasuma studied what had been set up, and raised an eyebrow. Rio laughed awkwardly. They _had_ gone a little overboard. Then again, they had all been thinking of other things, too.

"If it will…..clean up the space there, then I suppose I might as well."

And so, they spent the next small while munching on snacks and talking about more inconsequential matters, filling Karasuma in on various little things that had happened since they'd last been able to talk to him, discussing his recovery process from there on out. Between them, Maehara and Rio ended up eating more grapes than they probably should have, which Yada scolded them for and Karasuma chuckled at. Yada herself provided some amusement when she tried to get them to guess what the abstract, inky-looking pattern on her printed dress was meant to be ('What are you, Rorschach 2.0?' Rio had asked after giving up in frustration. The pattern turned out to be ocean-themed, and seemed so obvious after the fact that they all face-palmed). At one point, a nurse came in, concerned that they were tiring him out, but Karasuma was able to reassure them and send them away, and they picked up the light-heartedness right where it had left off.

But the things they wanted to ask and say remained buried and unsaid, not just because they weren't sure of the appropriateness, but also because they had no idea where they should start. _God knows there's a lot to choose from._

But much to their surprise, it was Karasuma who moved things forward.

"So….have Tada and Hiro told you….that they know some things. About your class from thirty years ago?"

Maehara had been in the middle of an anecdote about Touji when Karasuma posed the sudden question, and he stopped mid-sentence, trying to comprehend. Frankly, Rio didn't blame him.

"A-Ah. Well, sort of." Maehara stuttered, recovering just a touch. Karasuma frowned even more deeply at that, and he rubbed at his head tiredly, seemingly trying to get his thoughts into order, whatever they were.

"I see. And…. have they asked you anything? Have…..have you told them?"

"They've asked, but we've not said anything. We weren't sure what to do, really." Rio answered.

"Yeah." Maehara nodded, backing her up. "We've not said anything, to any of their class…but I did end up promising them-just the twins- that I would do so after the festival, because I didn't know what to do."

"Which would be now, basically. " Yada concluded. Though she had not been with them in the immediate fallout of the revelations, she had been brought up to speed with them, and so she knew what had gone down, and how they were all still floundering over it.

Karasuma had no response for a moment, instead holding his head in his hands. Rio bit her lip, and exchanged looks with her two friends, who seemed just as anxious. Enough bad things had happened, they didn't want there to be anymore.

"They….did they ask you something, Karasuma-sensei?" Yada eventually opted to ask, keeping her tone low and gentle. Karasuma nodded slowly at this.

"A little. The basics. Essentially…. the beginning of it all, just…..no more than….than… what you would have known at the beginning of that year, when he first came to teach you all. "

Karasuma looked up at that, and took in the looks of shock that were on all their faces. Maehara in particular seemed conflicted and stuck. Rio sighed, and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the plain and dull ceiling. Randomly, she thought of how utterly awful hospital ceilings were. _Perhaps somebody should get Sugaya in here to give the place a makeover,_ she mused, before realising that Karasuma was speaking again.

"I didn't have a choice. They asked who Koro-sensei was. And….I tried to evade it, but they weren't really having it. They're clever enough, to know a lie." Karasuma added.

"But still…they could have waited…I was sure they would have…." Maehara muttered.

"To be fair to them, they probably wouldn't have wanted to be a pressure, but I'm sure it would have been a pressure to them, too. " Yada pointed out. "After all, they're smart, like Karasuma-sensei said. So they'd know that this was a big secret….yet while we know the secret and are keeping it, they essentially have to keep it without really knowing what they're doing. That's a big ask, isn't it? I don't think I could have done that, if that was my teenage self who had to deal with it."

Rio blinked at that. She had not thought of it like that.

"I thought something similar too." Yada's opinions seemed to have made Karasuma relax a little.

"After they left yesterday, I thought about it, and came to similar conclusions. They are o-well, rather, something like this, _something_ needs to give. It….I don't know how to handle this, exactly, but I will. I need to. "

 _For Tada and Hiro's sakes. And,_ Rio supposed, _all the other kids too, from Sora all the way to Kayo._ She might not have had a child to be included in that group, but that did not mean she understood this any less. She may not have carried and given birth to any of them, but they were _her_ second generation too.

"We won't let you shoulder it alone though, Sensei." Rio determinedly said. "We're all adults here now, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Don't take the burden all on yourself, our class has been enough trouble over the years!" Maehara laughed deprecatingly. "That being said….at this point, we do need a little advice."

"About telling them." It wasn't a question.

Maehara nodded ruefully. For some reason, he had been standing all this time, but now, like Rio, he took a chair and settled in it.

"I made a promise-only because I was panicking, mind you, but still. I don't want to break that, you know?"

"And I personally think it's been a secret long enough. _All of it_. Not just thirty years ago, but what happened thirteen years ago too. Yeah, it's connected and all, but they're still two different issues, and I'd like to tell them about both. Nagisa has been looking after them, you know? In secret. He's been hovering around keeping a watch over them, doing his best to keep them safe, without talking to them or anyone. We might get him back, if we're lucky, I hope, because he's so close. Not that there's any way to know that. But he's been around, and they have an idea about him, too. So it's been long enough, and frankly, I'm kind of tired of it. So I want to, too. I want to tell them everything."

Karasuma looked slightly taken aback at the fire in her words, and Rio just stared at him. She still was not sure what Karasuma knew of that one particular night, or how much he was aware of.

"Ritsu thinks we should, too." Rio added, using that truth as a trump card. A secret weapon. _A second knife._ It certainly worked, surprising Karasuma even more. She thought of underlining that by calling Ritsu up, but figured that, even if she was gunning for a tell-all right now, it would be many, many shades of stupid to do that in the hospital at this time of day.

"It's….you're all-rather, _we're_ all-under orders not to say anything." Karasuma wearily pointed out.

"Hence Hiroto's panic." Rio deadpanned grimly. Maehara did not rise to this, or respond in any way. Yada bit her lip.

"Is there not a statute of limitations on such things? Like with how long it has to be before someone can essentially get away with murder. No." Yada corrected herself. "Not murder. But for other crimes, there are statutes, right?"

"That's right." Rio grinned at that, impressed at Yada. "That's exactly right. What d'ya have to say to that, Karasuma-sensei?"

"I'd want to know why statutes are so cheering to you, but that isn't the pertinent issue here." Karasuma responded bitingly, making them all sweatdrop. He sighed.

"There wouldn't have been any on this, not any clear ones. Technically, the restrictions would have been lifted once you all had passed on. Well, all except Ritsu, because it is not as if she can 'die' in the same sense. But the idea was that there would never be a time when this could be revealed. No traces should be left."

"Because it was meant to die with us. Quiet, and forgotten." Rio said what had been left unsaid, now suddenly angry, a dark, bubbling feeling that wanted to break through her skin. _Consign what we've been through to being forgotten? Doom Nagisa in that way?_ On some level, they had all known that this was a secret to be taken to the grave, but even so…. _what, exactly? What had we been thinking?_

"But one of us is gone now." Yada said, sadly. Her eyes glittered, seeming to grow blurry. She fiddled with the corner of the bedsheet. "That process is starting."

"And proving that it's not quite as simple as that." Maehara pulled a face. "People leave lives and memories behind. Hinano certainly did."

"That she did." Karasuma acknowledged.

"So what are we going to _do_?" Rio asked, a little gruffer than usual, not wanting to suddenly dissolve into puddles of despair and despondency. Karasuma sighed deeply, and leaned back against the pillows.

"Tell them."

"Eh?!" all three were gobsmacked.

"Not the entire class, not yet. They're an unknown quantity to me, at this point. But Tada and Hiro. Make sure you're somewhere private when you do this, and be careful with what you say and how it is said. Keep it as basic as possible, that way if it does get out of hand, then it won't get too difficult. If it does, I will of course step in, being responsible for you and all. You still need to be careful though.

"But yes. The time is certainly right. So tell them everything."

 **…**

Hasegawa schooled his expression into one of utter calm as he heard the sounds of the three Class 3E representatives coming up the stairs. Otsuka, standing next to him, did no such thing, instead seeming to lapse into complete utter disgust, but he let it be. A few seconds later, they came into view.

"Oh! Were you called for a meeting too?" Eriko was the first to speak after taking them in in astonishment.

"Of course!" Otsuka laughed haughtily. "We're in charge of the student council, after all!"

"That's true, but-"

"It doesn't matter, really. The main point is, we're all here." Hasegawa interrupted Tada smoothly, then gave an even smile. "Now, let's not keep Principal Okikura waiting. "

Hasegawa then proceeded to open the door and the others followed. He and Otsuka went to stand next to Okikura's desk, while Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko lined up in front. Okikura leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands, and regarded them for a while.

"Well now. You've done quite well for yourselves. Created quite the stir, too."

All three 3E representatives exchanged glances at this, clearly not sure how to respond. _Good._ Okikura then gestured at a portion of his desk, which had a small but impressive pile of papers on it.

"Since yesterday, I have been receiving a nonstop barrage of phone calls, emails and even letters. And for the whole of today, I've been observing quite a buzz….you've become quite the celebrities, within the school. Wouldn't you say?"

This last question was not directed at those three, but rather at Hasegawa and Otsuka.

"Indeed." Hasegawa agreed. "You've become a topic of interest, not just in our years, but the rest of the middle school, too. "

"They've been harping on about you all on and on and on. It's getting a bit annoying." Otsuka sneered at them. "Still, that's what you wanted, wasn't it? To infiltrate us like that, make a mockery of what we are, just because you can't deal with what you've landed yourselves in."

"Now, now, Otsuka-san." Hasegawa calmed. "No need to be quite so extreme. Still, it's undeniable, that you've been aiming to stir things up, and now you have succeeded. What do you have to say to that?"

"That we've been wanting to change this outdated, cruel system, and it looks like that we've managed to do that, so we're glad!" came Tsukuda's hot reply.

"It was never about making a mockery of things." Eriko added, a lot calmer. "But perhaps it is for the best, that you've been put under scrutiny like this, that you're being questioned. Actually, it is for the best. This system was never right, so it's high time that something like this happened."

"So we're not sorry, or ashamed, if that's what you're looking for. But….we don't want too much unrest, as such. But at this point, we've made enough impact that something needs to give, on both ends. And all of us, we'd be willing to have talks about it, to help the school adapt to the abolishment of the End Class. And to actually do what was needed. "Tada concluded.

 _About what I expected._ Hasegawa crossed his arms, carefully processing what they had said as they stood there, a united front. His eyes lingered on Tada the most, unwillingly impressed by his resolve, especially as there were some shadows about him. _Well, not as such. I can't say I knew exactly how they would respond, but I knew they wouldn't be cowed. Still, I was hoping that they would be. I don't want to see this school fall apart, not after standing so straight for so long. What will become of us if it does?_

"Ah, I see. But you know, you have caused a stir. Look at what principal Okikura has been dealing with." Hasegawa pointed to the letters to make his point.

"Other voices, others like us who want the same thing. You can't deny that it's more than just us anymore. It never has been just us. It's been others who have been through this, for the sake of those who might continue to do so." Tada stated simply, his voice impassioned, though it was clear he was trying to be level-headed.

"So what are you going to do now then?" Tsukuda challenged. "You can't just sweep that pile of letters aside, or ignore all the other voices."

Otsuka muttered something about them 'getting above themselves', which was a sentiment that Hasegawa could relate to, but he decided to defer to Okikura, deciding that was for the best. _What happens next, anyway? They are, unfortunately, right. Principal Okikura does need to respond to the public about this, and soon._ It was with this in mind that Hasegawa waited for the response.

"Hmm…..this isn't something that can be decided right on the spot, as you know. " Okikura smarmily said. "So time is needed to be able to consider all the options, and this is how I will reply to the many correspondents I am getting, including any from the media. I suggest you do the same."

"What sort of time frame are you thinking of?" Eriko asked matter-of-factly.

"Hmmm….now the festival is finished, the end of the term is very much near. So….I would presume that the first week after the winter break would be a suitable deadline."

Hasegawa raised an eyebrow at this, and then noticed that Okikura was giving him a sideways look. He, disconcertingly, found it hard to interpret said look, but he kept vigilant, in any case.

"Ah! Yes, of course, that's fine." Tada said. Otsuka sniggered, earning her vicious looks from both 3E female representatives.

"But of course, we won't lose sight of other things, now, will we?" Okikura continued easily. "Such as the end of term exams. If you were to slip in those as a result of your agenda, that wouldn't be a good sign at all. But, if, on the other hand, you did manage to do well anyway….."

Hasegawa bristled at this-as if 3E hadn't had exam successes already, and as if Okikura didn't already know of them. But the silky words had their effect on all three, who became grim again and glanced at each other, before turning back to face them.

"We understand, Principal Okikura." Tada said, for all of them. Okikura nodded vigorously at this, and smiled.

"Well now, that's all good, isn't it? In that case, 3E representatives, you had best get home-don't want to let a good evening of potential study time go to waste now, am I right? Hasegawa-kun, Otsuka-san, you two stay back for a while, please. I have something else to talk to you two about, and I can trust you to manage your study time."

All three gritted their teeth and nodded, and then they made to leave the room. Hasegawa did not bother to see them out, and instead watched them disappear. Once they were gone, he turned to Okikura.

"That was a delaying tactic, wasn't it?"

"Indeed it was, but it was needed. They have gone and put us in a rather difficult position….which leads me to ask this: how could you not handle them earlier? I presumed you would be able to, especially with the help that you have?"

Hasegawa bristled at this, as did Otsuka. But he felt the indignation deeply-he was a Hasegawa. He wasn't incompetent. It was just that class, they were so… _ARGH._

"They made a completely unexpected move in deciding to set up a museum-it is not normal festival fare, that much must be admitted." Hasegawa started. "And it has generally not always been easy to predict them, in any case. That class has a large number of wildcards."

"And ideas above them." Otsuka put in. "They must have a death wish, or something, the way they're persisting."

"We did make an attempt to destroy them from the inside out, but that proved to be a non-starter." _Because the person we earmarked turned out to be perfect 3E material anyway- inadequate and weak. It's just the rest of them that refuse to meet expectations._ Hasegawa did not need to elaborate anymore. Though he had not apprised Okikura of the Hidaka plan back when it had been carried out, he was sure the man would understand. And that he did.

"I see. Well, perhaps then, you need to try something different."

 _You don't say…._

"Do you have any suggestions, Principal?" Hasegawa asked. Okikura nodded, a careful but ruthless smile spreading across his face.

"Well…in all other areas, you're more than competent, so I am willing to give you some more chances. To that end….you will remember what I said by not stepping out of bounds when dealing with them? Well, that can be disregarded now. But-"

Okikura held up a hand before Hasegawa or Otsuka could ask or say anything, and it was only when he was satisfied that they would not say or ask anything that he continued.

"I would advise you to wait. Right now, it would not do to do anything too rash. However, since I have put of the need to give an answer until after the holidays, that gives you some time to play with. Use it wisely-that is to say, make sure they have nothing to come back with. That and….make sure you cover your tracks. It would not do for us to be associated with whatever sparks their downfall."

 _And by 'us' , you just mean yourself._ Hasegawa thought, sourly. Not that he blamed the man. Whatever idea they came up with, and however they executed it, he would have to make sure that it could not be traced back to him. It would be good if it wasn't traced to the rest of the Virtuosos, as well, but if push came to shove, he knew what he would do. _This is for the future of his family and their name, after all._

"Understood. Does that mean you do not wish to be informed about whatever plan of action we choose to take?"

"Yes, and no. I would like to know _when_ you have decided something, and a rough idea of how long after that point it will be when you carry it out, but that is all. The less people who know, the better, wouldn't you say?"

Hasegawa nodded at that, and Otsuka did too, and after that, they were dismissed, and headed back down. Given that the end of the day had long since passed, it was very quiet, save for the sounds of a few club activities.

"Soo….what are we going to do, then?" Otsuka said. "Have you got any ideas, or is it too soon? And are we getting Maeda and the others in on this?"

"Of course they'll have to help. " Hasegawa gave her an odd look-as if he would do this all by himself! Otsuka shrugged.

"Well, they'll have gone home by now."

"I figured as much." Hasegawa told her shortly. He thought for a moment. He could call them, ask them to meet later on. But he'd promised to help Manabu with his reading, and Misao had an important recital she needed to practise for, and so he had to listen to her playing, too. Not to mention his own studies. _Priorities, Takeru, priorities._ In any case, waiting a while would be better. Not too long, of course, but he needed some time to gather his ideas together, even if he was doing that right at this moment anyway.

"We'll gather tomorrow, okay? And in the meantime, see what you can come up with, too. The stronger the efforts, the better, after all."

"Yeah, I suppose. But still, it should be easy, right? It's still _3E_ , at the end of the day." Otsuka pointed out. Hasegawa sighed, and shook his head.

"Yes, that is right. But, Otsuka-san, that is _exactly_ why we should be careful."


	67. And So It Begins

"The end-of-terms? They're going to decide what to do based on our _end-of-terms_? Isn't that blackmail or something?"

"Not…exactly, Jori-Chan…" Tada sighed, and looked to Tsukuda and Eriko for some help. It was morning break, the day after they'd had the sudden after-school meeting with Principal Okikura (as well as Otsuka and Hasegawa, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly), and he was trying to explain what had happened and what had been said as optimistically as possible. _Because really, there is a reason to be optimistic. They're at least thinking about things, which is a good sign, right…._

"Sort of." Eriko stepped in, staring at Jori levelly, which seemed to calm her a little bit. "They did seem to emphasise that, if we did well then it would sway them. But in truth. I have a feeling that we have succeeded already anyway. They're just trying to delay the inevitable. Look for some kind of loophole."

"'Loophole' might be an understatement, actually…." Tsukuda said. "Hasegawa's a slimy SOB, and Otsuka looked like she wanted to claw our eyes out for the entire time, really. But I feel as if the more we do, the less they have to use. Right, Tada?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Tada nodded, relieved. Jori narrowed her eyes, but then nodded back.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm sorry, it's just they're so freaking slimy, it just…."

"It's not like doing well in the end-of-terms is going to put us out." Kuroba pointed out.

"Well, no." Kinomoto agreed. "It's always nice to get good grades."

"I'd imagine that's what we'd want, actually." Kaori commented calmly.

"Yeah, yeah, exactly!" Ayako grinned, bouncing in her seat. "We were all hoping to get into the top 50 this time around, even before the museum, right?"

"Exactly!" Tsukuda grinned, pointing at her.

"A-and of course, it'll be useful. E-especially w-when it comes t-to e-entrance e-exams and all." Hidaka hesitantly offered.

"So on that front, all we really need to do is study, and that'll be fine. We can set up study groups and whatnot as usual a bit later, but for now….."

Tada trailed off, and let out a breath. For a moment, he thought of Karasuma, and what he had said. _This Koro-sensei….would he have admired what we were doing? Or…..?_

"We need to think about what else to do. "He continued swiftly, brazening it out. "I don't think we need to do anything too radical, as such-Ayako-Chan, Izzy-kun, Ruko-Chan, you three are managing with the blog and all, right? That's not getting too much traffic or anything?"

"Ah, no, no. That's no big. We've been getting a lot of messages though, and a bunch of other blogs have been wanting to link to us, highlight our own blog on theirs. I've said yes to most of them, and we did the same for a few that had relevant topics. Ah, and a few online newspapers-including those that are just web versions of established papers- asked for some comments from you three, but I haven't answered those yet. Here, I will show you…."

Ayako took out her phone and tapped away for a few seconds, before her eyes widened, and she gasped a little.

"What is it, Aya-Chan?" Ruko was there in a flash, leaning over her shoulder, and soon her own eyes widened, before she grinned.

"Guess who wants another interview?"

"Arata-san? He contacted you, rather than us? I'm sure that we did give him our email addresses-right, Hanae, Eriko-Chan?"

"Yeah, you did." Ayako answered before either of them could do so. "He's sent you messages too, actually. But he sent a message to the blog too, just on the off chance it didn't come to you."

"Yup, that's right." Tsukuda had also got out her phone, and showed the message briefly to everyone before allowing Tada and Eriko to read it properly.

"He's apparently been given permission to write a big proper article for the paper, and not just a Saturday Spotlight thing. Although, actually, he wants to do one as well, for this Saturday, and then do the big proper article later." Tsukuda explained.

"Yeah. So basically, he wants another interview." Ayako said.

"None of us are on cleaning duty after school, right? I mean, out of us three. And Aoshima-san, actually." Eriko checked. They all nodded, though Tada did so absently, as he read the message over and over.

"Then, perhaps we could go there straight after school instead, get things done."

"After school?" Tada looked up, concerned. "You mean, today?"

 _But Karasuma-sensei…..and then, we're going to Hiroto-san's, to talk about 30 years ago, as he promised…_

"Is that a problem?" Eriko asked, concerned.

"Eriko, are you _dense_?!" Tsukuda fired back. "It was only the day before yesterday, after all!"

"Oh. Ohh, right." Eriko looked abashed. "Sorry about that, Tada-san."

"No, no, it's fine…." Tada shook his head. "You don't need to apologise about that or anything."

"Still…." Eriko sighed.

"In any case." Tsukuda steam-rollered on. "He said that for Saturday it was just fine for us to call or email with the comments, so why don't Eriko, Hana and I take care of that-we can still gather after school for that, and then we'll arrange things such that we have a proper interview on Saturday, if we're all free. That works well, right?"

"Yes, yeah, that's fine. That's brilliant." Tada breathed out a sigh. "Yeah, we'll do it like that."

"I think Ichijou-sensei is about to have a confrontation with someone."

Everybody swivelled around to eye Fuyumi, who sat serenely, her crutches leaning by her chair. She shrugged.

"Outside. In a moment." She added, as if it clarified things. _Which it doesn't_ , Tada sweatdropped. Still, they were all quiet as they listened out. And sure enough, after a few moments, they heard the familiar sound of Ichijou's sensible shoes on the floor, at rapider pace than usual. And then, once those steps had reached outside, they heard her speak.

"Excuse me! What do you think you are doing?"

"E-eh? You saw me?" the voice was male, and a completely new one to him. Looking around at his classmates, it was clear that none of them recognised it, either. _What the hell?_

"You were peering through the staffroom window, and it seemed to me that you didn't want to be noticed, the way you were skulking around. And, I don't believe I recognise you, young man. Could you tell me who you are?"

"S-so? Do you know everyone that this 3E is connected with? Sure, you're their teacher and all, but that's simply not possible."

"That didn't answer my question, young man," Though Ichijou sounded relatively mild, she still came across as more confrontational than she had ever been. "And the only other person who comes up here with a camera like yours has never snuck around the way you do."

She said something else, but Tada didn't pay attention, for he was utterly gobsmacked. He turned, and exchanged stunned looks with the rest of the class.

"And the crystal ball strikes again." Hirigi muttered.

"That's _my_ line!" Jori retorted. Fuyumi glared prettily at the both of them.

"A reporter's snuck up here? Why? "Yamada asked, frowning as she listened to the argument that was happening.

"That's a good question, actually. And I think we should find out." Eriko stood up. Tada and Tsukuda followed suit.

"Surely you can leave it to Ichijou-sensei? She's an adult, after all. And our teacher." Reno pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but this is Ichijou-sensei we're talking about. Plus, it's not fair when he was clearly after us." Tsukuda pointed out.

"Oh, let's just go." Tada said, already heading out. A few moments later, Tsukuda and Eriko followed.

"Sensei, is everything okay?" he asked. Ichijou turned to look at him, clearly flustered. The man, looking particularly unsavoury with lank mousy hair, thin features and an old trench coat, also stared, and then suddenly grinned.

"Ah, you're one of the students. A class representative? Could I possibly have a minute of your time? Perhaps more- perhaps you'd be willing to give me an exclusive, the inside story into how you've got so many people interested in changing the system of a school that has been around for over four deca-"

"Why would we do that, when we do not even know who you are? Or who you claim to be?" Tada asked.

"And if you wanted an interview, why not email us, arrange a proper appointment? Rather than coming up here, now, when it is….." Tsukuda checked her watch. "Oh, ten minutes until our morning break ends?"

"I-I…who gives you the right to be so choosy?" the man spat. "Don't you know anything about how publicity works?"

"It certainly doesn't work with us telling all to a stranger who was sneaking around the campus." Tsukuda replied pointedly. The man rolled his eyes.

"Rokuro Shirasaki, for the Gazette."

The man dug in his pocket and pulled out a grubby business card, handing it to Tada, who looked it over before handing it back and fighting the urge to go wash his hands there and then. Tsukuda and Eriko seemed similarly disgusted by the man. _Not to mention, he is a bit off._

"Now, can we get onto things? Since I'm here, perhaps we could set up in your classroom-get some nice photographs…"

"Excuse me, who said that my students had agreed to be interviewed by you?"

Taken aback, Shirasaki gawped at her as if she'd suggested something ludicrous."

"Why-why wouldn't they want to? Attention's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"We're not desperate though. And with all due respect, we're doing fine on the publicity front. So we don't want to talk to you, Shirasaki-san." Tada explained.

"Even if we needed the publicity, I have a feeling we wouldn't pick you, anyway." Tsukuda added derisively, looking him up and down. Shirasaki prickled at that.

"Well, I would hope you wouldn't." Ichijou said. "There is nothing wrong with the Gazette, on principal, but I would imagine there is if they would send their journalists to sneak around taking secret photographs of schoolchildren while they're at school, a place they are meant to study and be safe. You can't take that away from them, no matter what the reason."

"I did nothing wrong! This is a free country! What happened to my right to free speech?"

"And these are minors. _Children_. Even with free speech, you can't do that without proper consent, I believe. They are very special young people, that is true, because they came up with this idea, and have been doing a lot without much help from the adults around them, but they are still _children_. And as I am their teacher, and therefore responsible for them, I don't give that consent."

This had Shirasaki sputter incredulously, to the point where he seemed to have no coherent things to say. Eriko sighed.

"I suggest you leave, Shirasaki-san. We have a lesson to prepare for, so I certainly won't be giving you any more time." With a weary gesture, Eriko turned and left. Tsukuda and Tada watched her, then looked at each other, wondering if they should do the same. Shirasaki gawped, but seemed to calm down, and visibly appeared to be thinking about what to do next. Tsukuda raised an eyebrow at him, and then looked over to Tada, who shrugged. She just grinned, and turned back to him.

"if you're so concerned about free speech and all, perhaps we could call our lawyer to settle things? I'm sure she would be happy to help." Tsukuda said.

"L-lawyer? You kids have a lawyer? Since when?"

"Since always." Tada told him, feeling triumphant. All the same, he hoped that they _wouldn't_ have to call Atsuko. Shirasaki threw up his hands in annoyance.

"ARGH! I can't deal with you! Fine, let your project shrivel up and die in obscurity!" he declared, storming off. Tada and Tsukuda stared in disbelief, and then, once he was safely out of sight, they began laughing. _That was just….so weird._

"I'm sorry that you had to deal with that, children. I hope you haven't been pestered too much like this?"

"No, no." Tada made an effort to calm himself. "We've had attention, sure, but it was nothing like this."

"Let's hope it's just a one-off. I somehow don't think Shirasaki will be coming back, in any case." Tsukuda added, snorting and bursting into another peal of laughter, which made Tada laugh again too. Ichijou just smiled serenely and waited until both were reasonably composed.

"Well, it's good to know that. And I am glad he didn't upset you. I too, hope that this'll be the last intrusion, but if it isn't, please do know I will be standing for you."

"We know, Ichijou-sensei. Thank you." Tsukuda said for the both of them.

Ichijou beamed at that.

"Not a problem. Now, we should probably go back in for the next lesson. It's science next, isn't it?"

 _Somehow, that doubt is really reassuring right now._ Tada smothered a grin, and answered.

"Yes, it is science."

"Well, that's good then."

Then, they all went back inside and back to the classroom, and the next lesson started. And as it did, Tada let his mind drift to other things. Other places, at other times.

 **…**

When they were all settled-Tada and Hiro on one sofa, Isogai and Maehara on the other, snacks and the like spread out on his orange-crate coffee table (apparently a left-over from his university days that he had decided to keep well into adult life), the small talk they had been making dissipated, and there was an odd moment where they all sort of stared at each other, unsure where to begin or how to proceed. The copy of the photo album also lay between them, but neither side went to it to try and start things off.

"Well….." Maehara eventually heaved out a sigh, and leaned back in the sofa. "Thinking of where to start is hard-and don't you say 'the beginning', you two."

This earnt giggles from both of them. Tada reached for one of the snacks, and opened the packet.

"It's okay, you can go backwards and forwards and stuff….I….we don't really mind. Right, Hiro?"

Hiro nodded seriously at this, though she was not fully looking at Tada. She was perched near the end of the sofa, sitting straight and focusing completely on Maehara and Isogai, clearly not wanting to miss what they would say. Sighing, Tada grabbed a biscuit and held it out in front of her face, until she noticed it. When she did, she flashed a wry smile at him, and took the biscuit, though she just held it without making any moves to eat it.

"Well….how much did Karasuma-sensei tell you?" Isogai asked. Tada gawped at him, and bit his lip, feeling guilty. He could have waited.

"It's fine, he didn't mind. Anyway, Karasuma-sensei has always been strong, you know?" Isogai reassured quickly and easily.

This, Tada could believe. Even though Karasuma had taken an early retirement around the time he and Hiro had been in first grade, he had always seemed so invincible-and more objectively, he had remained active. He had been the one who taught them the various self-defence skills that they now knew. And though it had only been a few days since he had awoken, and though he was, for now, still wheelchair bound when not in bed, he seemed to easily readjust to the waking world. _All the same._

"Yeah, he has. He was a crazy opponent to fight against-but then again, we didn't really fight him, as such. Just when he was training us."

"Training you…." Tada repeated. Maehara nodded soberly at this.

"Basic skills that would help us in an assassination."

"The assassination of ….of Koro-sensei?"

Both adults nodded at this. An odd expression stole across both of their faces, and Isogai actually looked down at his hands for a moment.

"Koro-sensei shouldn't have had a chance to be our teacher. Originally, we just had a normal teacher, a young one- her name was Aguri Yukimura, we were her second ever class, she was cheerful, wore bad t-shirts….and believed in us. But we only had her for two weeks. She disappeared pretty early on. Around the same time that the moon blew up, actually."

 _Aguri Yukimura…..I've heard that name befor-no, not_ Aguri _, but something else, something similar._

Isogai misinterpreted his surprise, however, seeming to think it was to do with the timing, and not the name.

"Yep. It turned out to be relevant, actually-she died on that day, we found out later-but at that time, all we knew is that the moon exploded, and then a day later, the Ministry of Defence turn up in our class, Koro-sensei trailing his tentacles behind them, carting these knives, guns and pistols especially adapted to be able to kill him. Karasuma-sensei was one of them. The agents from the Ministry of Defence, that is. And we were told that the creature was the one responsible for the state of the moon, and that he was intending to do the same to the earth the next year….unless _we_ killed him. He wanted to teach us before the world ended, and he wanted _us_ to kill him. It sounds like crazy talk if you weren't there- hell, I am sure that the first thing we all thought when he announced that he'd be our teacher was something like 'there are _so many_ things wrong with this picture'. But there you have it. The fate of the world that year was basically in our hands. Sure, they tried to get outside assassins-proper professionals- to do it, too, but yeah, in the end, it all rested on us. "

 _And what a heavy weight that must have been._ Tada thought of the moon, the way it was. It had always been like that, and though it was strange, he had thought little of it. But it turned out to have so much significance to it, way beyond the scope of what he could comprehend.

"So you learnt to become killers." Hiro quietly stated, jolting Tada out of his train of thought. Maehara nodded at this, simply acknowledging it, and then he picked up the explanation.

"Assassins, to use the specific language our curriculum that year centred on. But yes. Karasuma-sensei wasn't one of our teachers at the beginning, but joined us soon after that, as a P.E. teacher, and then Bitch-sensei came a bit later…but she was not much of a teacher, initially. Not at all, in fact. We were not what she was used to….that, and she was most definitely a _bitch_. We won each other around eventually, though. But she was still a bitch. Because, well, Bitch-sensei.

But yeah, as a class, we had to fit in assassination attempts around our studies…which we somehow managed to do. We made a mess of things a few times-more than a few, but….it was a learning experience. Actually, every moment was a learning experience. Every. Single. Moment. Because you see, the thing about Koro-sensei was that he really was a teacher. He knew everything about _everything_ , not just assassinations, and he was pretty dedicated to us and our successes. He….really believed in us, from the very start and right up until the end. Quite frankly, he was one of the best teachers we had. Though it sounds a strange thing to say about a teacher, we _loved_ him. "

"Didn't that…..make it harder, then?" _I can't imagine doing that….I just….I can't…._

"Yes….but at the same time, no. Just the opposite, at times." Isogai answered. Tada gawped at him, and Hiro did not seem any less baffled.

"The ones responsible for killing Koro-sensei would be rewarded 10 billion yen. Later, that got increased to thirty, as the stakes rose and more outside assassins failed. And to us, so used to being the worst of the worst, still not used to the idea that we were worthy of happiness and success, that was a big motivator. That, and we had to think of the world's fate-certainly, the government kept reminding us of it,-as if we did not know already! "Maehara joked, though from his tone, it was clear that what he was saying was full truth.

"But….that class was built upon the idea of us not just being students, but assassins, and of Koro-sensei not just being a teacher, but a target. It was something that we quickly got used to. We….I guess we made the situation our own, in a way. So it -as shocking as this probably sounds to you-it was enjoyable. We enjoyed trying and trying, working together and coming up with plans, all to kill him. That, and….it would have been disrespectful, to this teacher we so loved, to not kill him, in the way he wanted….though, when we found out the exact truth about him, quite a few of us wanted to look for a way to save him."

"Save him, what?"

Up until that last bit, Tada felt like he was following what has been said. Indeed, part of his mind had been imagining his mother's class, that motley crew of fourteen and fifteen year olds, banding together under this common cause against their will, but eventually learning to make something of it, to own it. It was an image he could see so vividly, and clearly, enough to draw it, if he felt so inclined. But now he was just baffled. Maehara pulled a face.

"Ah, right. Yeah…..this is where it gets sticky….well, one of the parts where it gets sticky, anyway. The entire story is a little complicated. The short version is that Koro-sensei's claims that he'd blow up the moon the year after, if he wasn't killed, ended up both truth and lie. Yes, he would, but not because he wanted to or had decided to, but because of the way the body he had-the tentacles and all- been formed. The way they were meant that he would automatically explode, so to speak, but because of his size, the explosion would be enough to destroy the earth. "

"So….the moon…." Hiro tipped her head curiously.

"Was, essentially, blown up by a measly lab rat." Maehara sighed as he deadpanned this. At the twin's baffled looks, Isogai poked Maehara in the arm.

"Hiroto, probably best if you don't channel Fuwa while telling this."

Maehara just stuck his tongue out childishly at Isogai, who ignored him, and turned to the twins.

"Sorry. As a class, we've reminisced about these things a lot over the years, when no one else can hear us."

"Aaand Yuzuki-san talks about it as if she is narrating a shounen manga?" Tada guessed. Next to him, Hiro sweatdropped as she started to delicately nibble at the biscuit she had.

"Exactly." Isogai chuckled. "But anyway, to try and explain the lab rat….."

At that point, he launched into a dizzying, confusing and unavoidably jargon-heavy conversation , talking about science experiments centring around anti-matter, a captured assassin who became a human experiment subject, and how that led to a mouse being sent up to the moon. And then how that mouse had exploded, taking seventy percent of the moon with it…on the same day that the captured assassin became a tentacle creature who would soon become Koro-sensei. There were also other things, such as how the scientist in question had reeled in another assassin and an abandoned teenage boy to experiment on, and how that teenaged boy had been Itona, and the assassin a traitorous apprentice to the one who had been captured originally. It was enough to make his head spin, but he did his best to take it all in. And as he did, one detail stood out, and stuck in his mind.

"Kotaro….Yanagisawa…" Tada managed to ask when Isogai took a breath. "Wasn't he the victim, thirteen years ago? When….."

"Yeah." Maehara let out a breath, and looked at Isogai, stricken, before letting out another breath. "Yeah. He is one and the same."

"So….was it revenge, then?" Tada thought about the things that Izzy, Kuroba and Hana had dug up. _Seventeen years overdue. Seventeen years, she apparently said, and this took place thirteen years ago now. It…makes a certain kind of sense._

"Pretty much, yes. But it was not quite as….as simple." Isogai almost choked out the words. There was a silence for a moment, as Isogai's eyes flickered, accessing the words he needed to bring forth the memories, to explain it all.

"Our original 3E teacher, Yukimura-sensei, she was engaged to Yanagisawa. She worked in his laboratories at night. She died on that day, the day the moon exploded and Koro-sensei came to be, because of the destruction caused. And it was rumoured that he mistreated her." At this, Isogai curled his lip in disgust, but that was soon flattened out by sadness again as he continued.

"And she had a younger sister. Akari. The same age as us. She was a child actress, and adored her big sister, and tried to visit her whenever she could. She saw what happened that day. And initially, she blamed Koro-sensei, and vowed revenge. And to exact that revenge, she joined our class. But not as herself, or even as Haruna Mase. But as somebody completely new. A transfer student, Kaede Kayano."

Hiro gasped audibly at this, and her hands went to her mouth.

"You forget the bit where she implanted the tentacle cells into herself, Yuuma." Hiroto pointed out. Isogai nodded distractedly.

"Yes, that, too. Though in the end, Koro-sensei was able to remove those from her, so luckily, there were no long term effects….though at that point, she had been going through excruciating pain just to keep under wraps until the time came, and some effects, such as physical strength, ended up staying. But anyway….until that point, we thought nothing of her. Looking back now, it was a strange coincidence to have a transfer turn up at the same time as Koro-sensei, but really, it was a crazy, crazy situation, and it just sort of faded out of significance, and we just thought she was a cheerful, friendly, sweet-obsessed girl. But we found out the truth about her later, during the second term-after our own school festival, actually, though it was also after the arts festival, too. She revealed….she revealed her tentacles, and why she was there, and basically tried to attack Koro-sensei herself."

Isogai stopped, and Tada assumed it was so that he could catch his breath. But one moment went by, and then the next, and he said nothing. Maehara did not either, just flicking looks from the twins to Isogai and back again, sighing, his fists clenching.

"I….it's okay, you know. If it's….painful, you don't need to." He needed to know- _they_ needed to know-but at the same time, he didn't want this to be the price. If the sorrow that was thickening the air was just a _fraction_ of what the past had brought for his mother and her class, he did not want to be responsible for making it worse. _But, it's a bit late for that, isn't it,_ his mind mocked him, even as he thought this, tried to make himself believe it.

"No." Isogai was unexpectedly forceful with this response, which took Tada aback. Isogai smiled wistfully.

"No. We do need to do this, actually. Spending three decades being shaped by this and yet having to pretend that none of it ever happened takes its toll. So….in a way, it's for the best, that you ended up discovering this. "

Tada couldn't discern whether Isogai meant what he said, at least not fully. All the same, it sent shockwaves of utter relief through him.

"So, anyway…..Kayano. By that point, when she tried to attack Koro-sensei herself, she was beyond all reason….it was hard to stop her. But someone needed to, because her life was on the line…..and that is where our class's best assassin stepped in, really. "

"Class's best assassin?" even as Tada asked this, he felt that he knew the answer. Maehara and Isogai nodded, and then confirmed it.

"Yeah, Nagisa. "

"What….what did he do?" Hiro asked, a little tremulous.

"He kissed her."

This was something that neither of them had been expecting, and so they both just stared. Maehara laughed sorrowfully at their expressions.

"Yeah. How to stop someone high on tentacles-kiss them senseless. Don't try that at home though, kids." Maehara laughed again, still sad.

"Seriously though, it worked. It threw her off enough for Koro-sensei to get rid of the tentacles she had implanted in herself, but they left their traces, we think. And then she got the chance to properly hear the story of what had happened…"

"And her hate got concentrated elsewhere." Hiro murmured, not really directing the comment at anyone.

"More or less, yeah." Isogai said.

"And that was what resulted in the murder?" Tada asked.

"It….it was the underlying foundation for it, but not the trigger. This was only something that only came up during the trial, but Kayano discovered that Yanagisawa was engaged again. The woman was young….and then one day she saw the two of them at a shop….with a teenage girl. That teenage girl was clearly the fiancée's sister. And that was the trigger."

"Oh. _Oh_." Tada had not known that, that Yanagisawa had been engaged when he had died.

"But I don't understand." Hiro said. "How did bubbling up feelings end up with something that was so…cold? Planned? Difficult?"

"Quite frankly, we think something snapped. Logic went out of the window. And I guess the parallels that could be drawn between then and what had come before applied to more than the fiancée-with-a-younger-sister thing. "

Tada blinked, trying to think through what he knew and what he had just been told, and then yawned, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Are you alright, Tada-kun?" Isogai asked, concerned. "Do you need anything, or….?"

"Perhaps you should go home now?" Maehara stood up and grinned, digging his car keys out of his pocket and tossing them in the air before catching them again. "It's not late, but your aunt's probably waiting for you to have dinner, right?"

"Ah, yeah, I guess….." Tada stood up, a little weary. He felt as if he'd had a weight lifted off of him, and yet at the same time, he was weighted down, too. But he was glad, in a way.

"But we're not finished." Hiro protested.

"Sure, but this doesn't have to be the only time we talk. There can be other times, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Isogai put in. "There is…there is a lot that needs to be said, really. I'm honestly not sure that we could do it all in a single evening. Especially when thinking of what to say and how to say it."

Tada nodded at this. Hiro pursed her lips, but got up without protest or complaint.

"Yeah. So we can talk again another time. Ah, and now you know about Koro-sensei, we'll regale you with some of the stories of our crazier escapades while I drive you home, okay-Yuuma, don't clear up. I'll do it when I get back, okay? Oh, and I'll drop you off, too."

"Ah." Isogai rubbed the back of his head. "There's no need…"

"It's not a big deal, Yuuma, seriously."

"Ah, fine then. It'll get me home quicker and all….."

"Exactly." Maehara grinned cheekily at Isogai, who good-naturedly rolled his eyes. Then, they went to get their shoes, Maehara chattering all the while, telling them more stories about that year.

"So, during the Kyoto trip, Koro-sensei seemed like he had packed his entire house, but as it turned out, he had forgotten something…."

* * *

 **How they'll end up hearing the truth will be a gradual sort of thing, bits at a time, and some of it will take place 'behind the scenes' as well. Mostly because other things need to happen in this story, and so documenting every single scene where they are told things would make this story unnecessarily longer. But as you can see, it is happening =D**


	68. Challenge

Hiro looked up when the newspaper dropped on her desk to see Asami grinning at her. It was early, so apart from them, there were only a couple of others in the room, both doing their own thing.

"How awesome is this?" she said by way of greeting, grabbing a chair from an unoccupied desk and seating herself opposite Hiro.

"And good morning to you too, Asami. "She looked down at the paper and grinned at it, remembering how it had made her feel, seeing the article on Saturday. It had felt pretty good showing it to Karasuma as well.

"You know this isn't all they've got, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, Hana mentioned something, actually. Middle of next week or something, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Hiro nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Asami leaned back in her chair and sighed.

"Ah, well….I am kind of glad. That we were able to help, in some way. Still, let's hope they won't let it go to waste."

"Asami." Hiro said patiently. "You're the one with the newspaper."

"Ah, yeah, I am. Point taken. But still…..I don't want them to mess up at this point, or anything. You know? I mean, look at all this. Reckless and crazy it might be, but it's worked. I know it's worked on me, for sure. And….well, it helped Kei. The museum helped Kei. I…you know about that, surely, I don't need to tell you that. "

"Yeah, figured, you're their success story after all."

Asami gawped, and then snorted before turning serious again.

"Pfft, I can see why you're saying that. But yeah, I'd be pretty pissed off if all of this came to nothing."

"You and me both, Asami."

"But still…."

"Still?"

"I just think…argh, I don't know. President Hasegawa and his lot have been pissing me off with their attitudes lately, and now they're just plotting…something. I mean, it's make sense that they would have to think about it, because well, it would have been a bit more sudden than they planned…."

Asami made a face of disgust at this, but it was clear she had more to say.

"But still. I kind of feel like that they're planning something. And even if they're not, they will leap on any mis-step that they make. And twist it, and then what will they all be able to do with their lives? The fact they've got themselves in the spotlight already…sure it's awesome, but if it were to go against them…..yeah, I'm convinced that those guys are planning something. "

"I'm sure that they'll be fine. Tada'll be fine. I'm sure of it." _Well, maybe._

It was hard to say how they would both be from there on, being let into the secrets that had formed her mother's life. And having Karasuma back. Part of her had already begun the grieving process-not such a hard thing to do, for she was already grieving two people-even if it was a faulty, anger-fuelled grief. But at the same time, it felt like that part of the world that had been blown out from under her feet had been restored. And even the shock of these things that had been hidden from her felt like that. But still, they were secrets, and there was just _so much_ attached to them. Just, so much. _Like with Nagisa and Kaede. When and how should I try and reach out to Kaede. Should I?_

"Uh. Chihiro-Chan, are you okay? "

"Sorry, what?" Hiro looked up at Asami's face.

"Are you okay?" Asami repeated, a little slower. "You just seemed to drift off….or you just didn't hear me, or something?"

"No, it's fine, I can hear you. I was just, thinking of something else…."

"Oh? What is it? What's wro-oh, wait, I heard. You have a relative in hospital? Something happened, right?"

"Yeah, our godfather. He was in a coma after a car accident, but he woke up on the last day of the festival."

"Ah! But that's a good thing, right? Why'd you look so upset?"

 _Guilt, confusion, expectations._ There were many, many reasons that she could have given, but none that she felt that she could divulge, at least, not properly.

" _Oh, Hiroto-san, Yuuma-san."_

 _Hiro stared at Tada, who had stopped, rather than heading straight for the door. Maehara, about to close the car door, paused._

" _What's wrong?"_

" _I…the stuff you've told us so far…can I tell my classmates?"_

 _Maehara turned to look at Isogai, and they whispered for a moment, voices low enough that she couldn't hear what they said-and it seemed Tada couldn't, either. Then, Maehara turned back to them._

" _You're probably going to say something to them anyway, aren't you?"_

" _I-um…well…." Tada spluttered, then shrugged heavily. "They were_ there _. I'm not sure if I can pretend…."_

 _Nobody pointed out that Maehara, Isogai and the rest of their class had been pretending for thirty years. It was obvious, after all, and they all knew it. And Hiro found herself envious of Tada's dilemma anyway. If only she could have ended up in a class she could have felt such a genuine obligation too._

" _That's true. We can't ask that of you. It wouldn't be fair." Isogai eventually answered. "But, at the same time, nobody is meant to know, let alone you two. Ah….."_

 _Isogai paused, clearly pondering his options._

" _Say as little as you can get away with." Maehara filled in. "And whatever you do, make sure they know it cannot go outside your class. Don't tell anyone else."_

" _Yeah." Isogai sighed in relief. "Yeah, that should suffice for now. Until we know if we will be allowed to tell all or not. Yeah, that's what you should do. Thanks, Hiroto."_

" _Well, sure, why else would you keep me around?" Maehara quipped._

" _Until you know?" Hiro asked. Any other time, she would have laughed at the little exchange that Maehara and Isogai had had, but right now, she couldn't really focus on it._

" _Yeah. It's a little complicated, but we've not been allowed to tell. Everything about this has been put as far under wraps as possible by the government. Karasuma-sensei is in a way the liaison between the two of us, and he's said that when he can, he'll try to smooth the way….but yeah."_

 _Hiro bit back a cutting question about why Kotaro Yanagisawa would have pretty much been left to himself before getting murdered in that case. As much as he sounded like the worst kind of person, nobody deserved to be murdered, and certainly not like that._

" _But in any case, you two go inside, have dinner, get things ready for school tomorrow and go to bed, okay? And don't worry too much-this might be part of your history, but it isn't your burden." Isogai told them._

" _Yeah, okay. Goodnight, Yuuma-san, Hiroto-san." Tada nodded._

" _Goodnight." Hiro echoed._

 _Isogai and Maehara said goodnight back to them, and then the car door closed and they drove away. Once they could no longer see the car, Tada and Hiro turned and went to open the door to go into the house._

"Some…family stuff has come up. Some unexpected bits we need to deal with. That's all."

"Right….." Asami said slowly, fixing Hiro with a look and waiting. A moment passed, and then another, and Hiro had to stifle a laugh at the look of annoyance that spread on Asami's face when she realised Hiro wasn't going to say anything.

"You realise I can't help, or at least try to help, if you don't say anything?" the shorter girl eventually huffed. Hiro shook her head.

"It's not really something that can be helped. It just sort of needs to blow over. And besides, this is family stuff you know." _Our past, and also our weight to bear, even if it isn't supposed to be a burden. It's still heavy, and we weren't even supposed to know about it. How could I ever tell you?_

Asami frowned at that, then fiddled with some of her hairclips, rearranging a few of them before she looked around the classroom. As she did, a pair of girls came in, chatting and giggling about something, followed closely behind by Otonashi, who looked preoccupied. He caught Asami's eye, and though he lifted a hand in greeting, he averted his gaze quickly, and did not come over to say hello. Instead, he scurried to his seat and pulled out a textbook, burying his nose in it.

"I wonder where the rest of them are." Hiro mused. Asami snorted in derision.

"Who the hell cares? All up themselves, they are." She said. "Plus, he's one of them, so of course he's in cahoots with whatever they're planning. "

Hiro blinked for a moment, then smiled wryly.

"Yeah. But he looked really…guilty there, did he not?"

"Tch. So? He should come to me, then? Aren't we both class representative, but noooooo, it's all about the bloody Virtuosos. You know, Chihiro-Chan, I'm starting to understand why you decided to opt-out."

At this, Hiro raised an eyebrow. _Who knew? That she'd think that, even though she's been trying to give this school the benefit of the doubt outside of the 3E system._ Asami squirmed uncomfortably, pulling a face at Hiro.

"Don't look at me like that!" she protested. "I do!"

"Really now?"

"Yes!" Asami glared. "I mean, I still, if at all possible, want to stay here. I don't want Ending the End Class to close the school. The high school does not have the same baggage, in any case. And well…..we've been through this before, haven't we? No point in me yammering on about it. But….at least in a different school, I could try again. Perhaps with different people, I'd actually get to do my job, as a class rep."

"Like you haven't here?" Hiro had an idea of what she meant, but actually thought that Asami had, all things considering, done well. She was, in her own way, pretty motivating. After all, she had been the one who had decided to gather allies to try and help 3E with the festival, once she'd found out about the rule. Sure, the rule hadn't been much help, but still, that wasn't the point. And people liked her, bluntness and all. This much, Hiro knew.

"Tch, how much would have that worked when I am just a _mouthpiece_?" Asami spat. Then, she reconsidered.

"No. Like….argh, I don't know. Just a shiny front, so that people don't look past the surface because they're like 'ooh, shiny'. You know."

"A façade. You think you're a façade."

"Yes, that."

"Hmmm. "Hiro propped her chin on her hands. She supposed she could get that. She didn't want to be used to make the school look good. That was why she had opted out of the escalator system, amongst other reasons. And frankly, she did not care if Kunugigaoka crumbled to dust once the 3E system had ended. Right from the start, she had hated it.

"But, I wouldn't be very responsible if I just ran away from things just because I didn't like them, right? Not that starting with a clean slate, like you're doing, is necessarily running away." Asami was quick to clarify. Hiro smiled wryly at this.

"But for me, personally, it would feel like doing that. Like I've lost something. And you know I don't like to lose. Or to back down. So it wouldn't sit well with me."

"Yeah, I know. But still, this is the last time we'll get to compete, you know."

"You're talking about the end-of-terms? Well, of course. That would have been the case either way, even if I had never found out about things…but I won't go easy on you, or 3E. No way. Then again, I will be trying to beat _them_ , too…."

At this, Asami directed another glare at Otonashi, who was oblivious to them. Hasegawa and the rest were still not there, which led Hiro to think that perhaps Asami was right, that they were planning something. Then again, they'd definitely involved Otonashi as well, so it didn't make much sense that he was here alone. Maeda and Fujimura should have been there, at least. _Still, who cares?_ Hiro curled her lip as she studied the boy. _The end result is the same. We just have to deflect it._

"But yeah, the point is, just because we're friends and allies, doesn't mean that I'm going to lessen the effort I put in for my goals. Got that?!"

"Yeah, yeah. The same goes for me, too." Hiro replied levelly. " I'll definitely be doing my best, so don't you forget it. "

Asami grinned at this, wide and delighted.

"Challenge accepted."

 **…**

Leading up to the end-of term exams, they were, for the most part, able to just focus on that. They thankfully didn't get any people like Shirasaki coming up to their campus again, nor, as some of them worried, did anyone like that turn up elsewhere. The big article published by Arata Maki did get picked up and reprinted in other newspapers, and after getting permission, one of that paper's journalists came to do a full pull-out feature about them, bringing two photographers. One, surprisingly, was Katou, who'd been borrowed from the nature magazine she'd worked on to take pictures of the building and what was around it. She didn't much seem to like it, per se, but she didn't complain, and then later revealed to Ayako that it was helping towards her savings for a new camera, so she did not mind so much. The other photographer, who took pictures of them, happened to be Taiga Okajima, another 3E member of thirty years ago, which was a pleasant surprise for Tada, and even after the shoot (as they called it) was finished, they talked a little, exchanging memories. Once Okajima knew that Tada knew of Koro-sensei, Tada was treated to a rather odd story about how his mother had inadvertently ruined an assassination-attempt-by-porn magazine over the discovery of a particular kind of stag beetle. This at least explained what Tsuwabuki had found in the forest, but was still incredibly, incredibly strange. But Tada didn't mind-it just felt like he was getting to know his mother even more.

The blog also became more popular than it had before, and from the looks of things, Principal Okikura and the staff were definitely being pressed to do something, though they still stuck by their 'we will decided after the winter break' policy. An annoyed parent had tried to approach some of them once, outside of school, as a result, but luckily at that time Isogai had been there, and they had been warned off. There were still many, many main campus students who looked at them derisively, and acted much the same towards 3E as they had before (Komori and her group particularly delighted in this). As for Hasegawa, he and his group remained unreachably neutral, though it was clear what they thought, and Otsuka was the same as usual, which wasn't a surprise.

But there were positive reactions from others. Fuyumi and Jori reported that some others from their team-asides from Eka, of course-had started to reach out to them, attempt to talk to them. When they walked to school, various others approached them hesitantly-some right-out apologising for treating them the way they had over 3E (such as the second-year boy and girl who had been in the orchestra with Kaori, or their year-mate who had been once been friendly with Azama in elementary school before middle school had distanced them, and the bouncy first year girl who had specifically apologised to Yukiyama about something that none of them understood but he seemed to know about). And their words were followed with behaviour, though understandably, many were awkward and unsure as to how to proceed.  
Some seemed uncomfortable with apologising, unsure as to how to do it. So they edged around it, asking questions about the Ending the End Class project, looking out for them and their welfare (there was a girl from their year who had had a milder version of Tsukuda's tendencies, and who had approached them to say she'd never let those principles fall by the wayside again). Some did eventually pluck up the courage to say sorry eventually, but others, to Tada's way of thinking, seemed to decide that their actions would help convey their meaning well enough. And that was fine, for all of them.

Others came with the offer of a study session (such as a group who had sometimes coaxed Reno and Reimiya to karaoke-and who started to extend these invites again after reconciling, or the boy who was Hidaka's neighbour and who had used to hang out with him in the mornings before 3E had happened), always accepted by at least one of them. And of course, it was needed, because the studying they were doing was intense, though they knew it would be crazier when it came to entrance exams. So they made groups with each other, with their mentors, with these people who had reached out to them, and studied alone, too. They looked for as many different sources and perspectives as possible, trying their best to make sure they were ready for anything that they might get thrown at them. And it seemed to pay off, when the time came, for though naturally there were various parts of the exams that some or none of them liked, and they all had their difficulties, the exams did not send them into despair, and they did not feel that there was anything to worry about.

On the day they were to receive the results, most of them arrived at their class very early just like they had done for the mid-terms, restless and bouncing, eager to find out if they had been able to achieve what they had wanted. They all expected that they'd have to wait until Ichijou arrived, but instead, the first thing they noticed was a big message written on the blackboard.

 _Hello, children. I know that you've been pretty excited about these last in-school exams of yours, and that you'll be wanting to know your results. So, I came in before you to write down the Top 50 for your year, with an extra note if you were the best in a subject across the year too, which you will see under this message. I've gone to a café for my breakfast, and I have a quick errand to run as well, but I will be back in time for the start of the day, and then, I will give you your personal results, as well as the within-class subject rankings. I hope the results are ones you are pleased with.  
-Rina Ichijou. _

"Wow. That's pretty neat of Sensei to do that. So, so, so, who's at the top then?" Ayako wanted to know, as they all crowded around.

"It's not the Student Council President, that much I can tell-hey, quit shoving!" Jori snapped.

"Sorry! " Hirigi snapped. "But I can't see with everyone in the way!"

"I-I- can't see either." Reimiya piped up.

"How about we all calm down and stop for a moment?" Eriko asked, pointedly, having moved off to the side to avoid the over-enthusiasm they were all displaying. While they still tried to look, some of the chaos stopped, and they turned to her.

"Surely we can do this calmly. And perhaps, one of us can read it out, for those who can't get through for whatever reason."

Tada was about to volunteer to do this, when Fuyumi raised her hand, looking a little hopeful.

"I'd quite like to, actually. No particular reason, just that I would like to."

"That's fine then. " Eriko nodded. Then, she stepped back into the group, and they all eased back a bit, shuffling around so that as many of them as possible could see. Then, Fuyumi started to read what was on the board. Tada kept his eyes on it, so many of the results surprising him that he felt he needed to keep looking at it, to be sure it was real.

 _1_ _st_ _-Chihiro Kitakawa-san (3A)  
2_ _nd_ _-Asami Aoshima-san (3A)  
3_ _rd_ _-Seijuro Kuroba-kun (also top in Maths, tying with Hana Aoshima-san in this subject)  
4_ _th_ _-Takeru Hasegawa-kun (3A)  
5_ _th_ _\- Izaya Arisato-kun, tied with Hana Aoshima-san and Kyouhei Fujimura-kun (3A)  
6_ _th_ _-Haruka Ichinose-san (also top in English, tying with Kiyomi Akira-san, Kachi Kitabayashi-kun and Mei Mikami-san (3B) in this subject; additionally, is top in Home Economics, tying with Kazuma Hirigi-kun)  
7_ _th_ _-Misora Shimada-san (3B)  
8_ _th_ _-Yasushi Otonashi-kun (3A)  
9_ _th_ _-Masaharu Tachibana-kun (3C)  
10_ _th_ _-Hanae Tsukuda-san (also top in Science), tied with Tadaomi Kitakawa-kun  
11_ _th_ _-Makina Tatsumi-san (3D)  
12_ _th_ _-Makoto Kinomoto-kun  
13_ _th_ _-Eriko Fujisaki-san  
14_ _th_ _-Saito Yukiyama-kun (top in Literature, tied with Yasushi Otonashi-kun (3A) in this subject)  
15_ _th_ _-Rin Maeda-kun (3A)  
16_ _th_ _-Keiko Akiyama-san (3B)  
17_ _th_ _-Shou Ueno-kun (3B)  
18_ _th_ _-Tsumugu Munakata-kun (3C)  
19_ _th_ _-Daichi Tsuwabuki-kun  
20_ _th_ _-Naoko Niiya-san (3B)  
21_ _st_ _-Ageha Nomura-san (3B)  
22_ _nd_ _-Fuyumi Yukimura-san (top in Social Studies)  
23_ _rd_ _-Reno Kuroyama, tied with Shizuka Sakai-san (3C)  
24_ _th_ _-Reina Tsukino-san (3B)  
25_ _th_ _-Kiyomi Akira-san  
26_ _th_ _-Kaori Fujisaki-san  
27_ _th_ _-Etsuko Nidai-san (3A)  
28_ _th_ _-Jori Kasai-san  
29_ _th_ _-Mikoto Yamada-san  
30_ _th-_ _Katsumi Oikawa-san (3B)  
31_ _st_ _-Misa Takamiya-san (3A)  
32_ _nd_ _-Kuruko Sorachi-san, tied with Ryouka Okabe-san (3B)  
33_ _rd_ _-Yusuke Sawabe-kun (3B)  
34_ _th_ _-Koujiro Tobe-kun, tied with Akihito Sakakibara-kun (3A), Reiko Matsuura-san (3B) and Ren Hoshima-kun (3B)  
35_ _th_ _-Eka Udemae-san (3B)  
36_ _th_ _-Airi Aida-san (3D)  
37_ _th_ _-Tsukasa Kashima-san (3C)  
38_ _th_ _-Kazue Satou-san (3B)  
39-Junichi Nakahara-kun (3C)  
40_ _th_ _-Kachi Kitabayashi-kun  
41_ _st_ _-Reimiya Kuroyama-san  
42_ _nd_ _-Umi Sugiwara-san (3A)  
43_ _rd_ _-Kazuma Hirigi-kun  
44_ _th_ _-Rikio Hidaka-kun  
45_ _th_ _-Remijiro Azama-kun, tied with Jinpei Mori (3B)  
46_ _th_ _-Emiri Nishizawa-san (3A)  
47_ _th_ _Kaneko Uemura-san (3A)  
48_ _th_ _\- Itsuki Hinata-kun (3D)  
49_ _th_ _-Shuu Hanaoka-kun (3B)  
50_ _th_ _-Ritsuka Egawa-san (3D), tied with Takeshi Murao-kun (3D), Shiori Murao-san (3D), Kazuki Tanaka-kun (3B) and Teiichi Taki-kun (3C)  
_

"WE WON!"

The eruption of joy occurred almost as soon as Fuyumi had finished reading, making the room chaotically noisy, but also warm and happy with triumph.

"Tada-kun, your sister's at the top! She's in first place!" Hana exclaimed excitedly across to him, half-dragging Izzy and Kuroba with her as she came up to him, beaming.

"Yep, that she is." More than his own extraordinary success (not to mention how oddly good it felt to be in that place with Tsukuda), he felt a big sense of pride at this fact. If it wasn't for the fact that she was in class, he would have video-called her, to congratulate her right there and then. Instead, he contented himself with grinning and nodding.

"And _your_ sister is in second place. Looks like all in all us twins did a good job of things, huh?"

"Yeah!" Hana's beam grew bigger, and then she let go of Izzy's and Kuroba's sleeves and launched herself at Tada in a hug, squeezing briefly before letting go, and still smiling. Then, her gaze went over to Tsukuda and she blinked for a moment in confusion.

"Sorry." She said, eventually, pulling a face. Tada wasn't sure what was going on, but Tsukuda laughed at that.

"What for, you silly?" she asked. Hana blinked, and then giggled.

"Oh, right, okay." She didn't actually answer, just going back to Kuroba and Izzy instead. Tada shot an incredibly confused look at Tsukuda.

"What was that?" he wanted to know. Tsukuda gave him a look for a brief moment, so he frowned, and then he got an inkling.

" _Why_? Where would that even come from? You're not like that, Hanae."

"Well, duh! I _know_ that. I think she did deep down, actually. But still," she smiled, and linked arms with him. "Even if it was a bit pointless, that was rather sweet. Because it's her."

"Yeah, yeah, it is." He chuckled a little, and then they went over to Yukiyama, to congratulate him. Many more congratulations went around, punctuated by hugs, high-fives and various plans for celebrating. It was a little while before any of them noticed that Ichijou had arrived at some point after Fuyumi had read from the board, and was standing in the doorway, watching them.

"Oh! Ichijou-sensei! We were going to sit down, it's just…." Eriko was the first to recover, and so she spoke for them. Ichijou shook her head and smiled.

"Don't worry about it, I understand fully. It was quite nice actually, seeing how excited you are." Ichijou, now noticed, came into the room and to her desk, setting up for the day.

"Yeah, we did pretty awesome, right?" Koujiro crowed as they all began to go to their seats.

"And with every single one of us in the top 50, I think we did a fine job of kicking their butts!" Ayako proclaimed in addition to this.

"They'll definitely have to decide about Ending the End Class in our favour now!" Tsukuda added.

"Or at the very least, the scales have been tipped that way significantly." Kuroba said. Ichijou chuckled at their excitement. Though her expression was much softer, it was clear she shared much of the same feelings, and that she was very proud of them. It made Tada feel warm inside.

"Indeed. And, as well as that, it's a wonderful way to end the term, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Tada agreed warmly. "That it most certainly is."

* * *

 **ARGH that list of names was a difficult thing to do. I hope I didn't accidentally miss out anyone from 3E =P. Anyway, as for main campus names, as well as using actual characters from the main campus, I just made up most of the names. Because why not, really.**

 **Anyway, it turns out that the way I am writing things, the letter chapter will be next chapter. It consists of six of the letters in the collection, spanning from the first letter written to the last, so that's something you should keep in mind with that. Whether that comes out during the week or next Sunday is anyone's guess. But until then, I hope you enjoyed the chapters, and please do leave feedback, as always.**


	69. A Way to Say the Unspeakable

**And here it is, the letter chapter. As I said, this is a selection of six of the letters that Megu would have written-in my mind, she's written this whole big bundle-, including the very first and the very last, so you'll need to keep that in mind as a sort of context, as well as the fact she will reference other things in their real lives, and it doesn't make sense for there to be a big-ass explanation about every little thing, when these are written to someone who already _knows_ these things. Also, I've mixed in a little French in here (and a couple of Japanese terms which I felt were relevant to have like that). I don't know French myself, and so I had to look up everything on the internet (using Google Translate in some cases), but there is a reason for this, which is simple: Sora is mixed race, and Megu's been bringing him up as bilingual, in the country that isn't her own. Of course she's going to end up switching languages in the letters. But anyway, because I don't know the language and can't expect you to do so either (though if you do, kudos to you!) I have only used a small smattering of phrases, and I've listed the definitions and such at the bottom. I know some people don't like it when there are foreign words scattered in a fic, and I understand that, but I genuinely felt it was relevant, hence my explanation here. **

**So anyway, this started off just as another perspective on the secrets and past events of this story, but it's kinda evolved into a study of Megu as a mother. I actually like that. And I hope you do too, and that generally, you will enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _Cher_ Sora,

Yesterday, I brought you home for the first time. You are just five days old, and so, so tiny. It is hard to believe-you are a whole new life, an entire human being. Your history includes two cultures. Your hair is already thick, and full, and dark. And your cries, they shake the _walls_ , they're that loud. And yet, as I said, you are so, so small, so tiny. I'm still not sure what to do with you yet, I worry every time I hold you that I will break you. I have no idea what I am doing, or how I will do it. Your father-Xavier- has no idea that you've been born, or that you are a son. He wouldn't have wanted to know. I already think he is missing out, but that is a story I will tell you myself one day, so you will already know it by the time you read these.

But even with such an absence, I am not alone. I have friends here, they travelled all the way from Japan-it is where I come from, and thus, part of where you are from- to help me get my bearings. Yuuma, Hiroto, and Yuuma's wife, Mari-san. You have 'met' them already, actually, but you were asleep, so it is not like you saw them. That, and at this stage, how would you remember them, anyway? You are only five days old. But it does not matter. There is a whole lifetime for you to know them, and you will-Yuuma and Hiroto in particular. We have a history, a long and solid one. In any case, the point is that right now, I'm not alone. But they have lives of their own, and will probably have their own children soon too, and so I will be alone again soon. But that's okay. Though I have no idea how I will get through this without breaking you, I am ready to fight, to give my life for you. You are loved by me, completely and utterly, and that is a good place to start, I think. So we'll be okay.

Right now, you are asleep in your crib, in the middle of the afternoon. It is bright out, so I have pulled the curtains, and as I watch over you, I write. It is a strange thing, writing to a child who has no concept of reading or writing, but it needs to be done. You will only be reading this much, much later, when you are older, perhaps with children (and possibly grandchildren) of your own. By then, I will be gone. Because now you are here, things have changed. Before you were born, and even before finding out I was expecting you, I was fine with assuming that the secrets I held could just die with me, as they were supposed to. They informed my life, turned me onto this path for better or for worse, but that was where it stopped.

But now, it doesn't. The consequences continue. To you, _mon fils_. The forces that have affected me and shaped me will now be doing the same to you. And so, I cannot let the secrets fade away like that. But at the same time, I am bound by the promise never to tell. So this is the next best thing. In any case, the teacher I had in the third year of middle school (for you, that will be _Troisième_ ), Koro-sensei, some of his parting words to us were used to tell us that to nurture and bring up the second generation was truly a honour, and one he hoped we'd get to experience. You are the start of that, our second generation. And you _are_ a honour, Sora. More than that. And so, in turn, it would be a dishonour to him, to Koro-sensei, to not pass these things onto you.

And that is where I will start, actually, with Koro-sensei. You may or may not have noticed that is a pun. And now, because of that you must be wondering why I once had a teacher whose name was a pun. The truth is, this teacher was not a typical teacher. He was flamboyant, dramatic, incredibly clever and very tall. And also bright yellow, tentacle-ed, capable of travelling at Mach-20 speed, and the result of government experimentation. He had no name, so our class, we gave him one. Koro-sensei, from _korosenai_ , and _sensei_. Our unkillable teacher. Because the reason we had such a thing as our teacher was that we had to kill him. He was a super-creature, who had apparently blown up the moon, who had threatened to do the same to the earth if we could not kill him. But also, he was our teacher, and even as we tried to kill him, we learnt from him. The day we did end up killing him, it broke all our hearts, more than a little. But it also made us. Because without him, we may not have been able to know that we could succeed, that we could make it. The possibilities that were opened to us may not have been. I would have not been able to become who I am now, both as an adult and as your mother. We went to a school that had a cruel system, you see, one that we experienced the worst of. Other children in that school experience it now. They have no Koro-sensei, or anyone like that to try and help them. Not properly. Yuuma, Hiroto and I are tentatively putting in our own measures to do this, but right now, I am putting you first. Once you are a little older, I will start travelling over there again once a year, to at least help with the starting efforts, and I think then you will grasp it a little more. For now, I will leave the explanations, and talk more about Koro-sensei.

When he came to us, we were just a class of disillusioned 14 and 15 year olds. We had no real concept of killing someone, let alone something that had tentacles and could dodge a missile attack and then polish the missile as it was still moving through the air (yes, really). But he taught us. Well, he, and the Japanese government, also. They provided us with weapons, one of them did become our well-loved P.E. teacher- Karasuma-sensei, and someone else you will get to meet one day-and there was a big money reward, too. Money is always a good incentive for a bunch of teenagers. But most of our training, most of where we learnt to become proper assassins, was from the target himself. Koro-sensei. Attack methods and the national curriculum, weaponry and examination content, it all went hand-in-hand, in that classroom. And we went from a dead-end classroom to a very special, but also very, very secretive one. This is only the start, of everything that occurred, but already, I imagine, you can see how this has resulted in where you are today, reading these.

Ah, you are stirring now. Not yet crying, though that will come any moment now. But that will be soon, and so I will stop this for now, and start again the next time I can.

 _Tendrement_ ,

 _Maman_

 **…**

 _Cher_ Sora,

I wonder how it is going, your first day at _École primaire._ I wish I could have been the one to drop you off today, to see you off into the proper beginning of your school life, reassure you that you'd enjoy it as much as you did _École maternelle._ But really, who am I kidding? You were fine, and I am sure you will be, and I know that you didn't mind going with Estelle, because that way you'd get to go in with Daniel and Adrienne, too. And I suspect that would have made things far more exciting without me there, which is fine by me! Estelle has promised to take pictures of you outside the school gates. When she gives them to me, I will put one copy in an album, and one here. I bet it will bring back some memories, pulling that image out!

But having Estelle take you does make things easier for me, and I am grateful to her for it. It was one thing, taking you out of _École maternelle_ for a couple of weeks each year in the spring to go to Japan, but school is a different matter. If that time coincides with the spring holidays, then it should be fine, but any other time, you'll be staying next door with them. Ikuko would be during school in that time anyway, and so it would probably be boring for you, coming with me in the spring now. If it's possible, we can go over in the summer holidays as well, during some years. As there, the school calendars between here and there coincide a little more, that might be better.

But though, right now, these arrangements I write of are the not-so-distant future, but for you, they are the past, your childhood. How did they affect you, I wonder? Did you just enjoy the novelty of initially coming to Japan every so often, seeing Yuuma and everyone else, and viewing the cherry blossoms, and then later, getting to sleep over next door with Daniel and get up to whatever it was the two of you got up to? Do you look on those times fondly? Or did you take them in your stride, figuring it part-and-parcel of your childhood, assuming it to be normal? I hope that at least it was one of those, and that you didn't resent me for anything. I hope that doing this did not damage you, and if it did…. _mon petit chou_ , I wish I could go back in time, to change that. Perhaps then, I would have decided to arrange things differently. But the way I see it now, I don't know how I could do that, without giving up on the future 3Es. And I cannot imagine doing that.

You'll remember, in the other letters, me mentioning Kunugigaoka Junior High, and the system it runs under-specifically, the class 3E system, and how once, I was in a 3E myself, along with Yuuma, Hiroto, Hinano, Rio, and quite a few of my friends from Japan that, at the time of writing this, you've either already met, or have yet to meet because of timing. And you will remember how, because of Koro-sensei, we had a much better time of it than any other 3E had. But that was an abnormality, and an aberration. The students of 3E after us, as the years went by, they just experienced it as it was meant to be. An ordeal. But we wanted to try and soften that, if we could, the last good fairy using her wish to soften the curse that had just been laid on the young princess. And there I guess you can see the logical connection, the origins of what we do each year.

Initially though, it wasn't the elaborate mentoring scheme that we have now, the one that has me planning for you to have regular sleepovers at Estelle's while I fly over to Japan. It was so much lesser than that, simply just keeping an eye on them from a distance-which is what we did while we were high school- _Lycée_ , to you-and what we assumed we would continue doing.

But then Yuuma came across a boy called Shinnosuke Kido trying to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge into the river, one day while home visiting his young siblings. Mari-san, who was still just his girlfriend at the time, was with him too. He recognised the school uniform right away, and put two and two together, but still, tried not to assume anything as he tried to talk the boy down-which somehow, thankfully, he managed to. And then he spent most of the evening just letting Shinnosuke-kun pour his heart out, and oh god, that poor, poor boy. It is not my place to blurt out his full story here, but I think that all but the hardest of hearts would have been moved by it.

Afterwards, once Shinnosuke-kun had been seen home safely, Yuuma contacted me and Hiroto about it later, much later, and we all realised that if we were to do any good at all, we'd need to be a lot more hands-on. How could we claim that we were helping anyone or anything, if a child was actively trying to kill themselves as a result of that class? The answer: we couldn't.

And so, we are where we are now. I think I will be continuing this until the 3E system ends-and since I don't see that happening any time soon, I imagine that I will continue like this until the day I die. Of course, I will have to balance things out. All three of us will, with our different lives and families. But we will continue until either the system's end, or our end. I wonder which one it will be.

Until the next time,

 _Tendrement,_

 _Maman_

P.S. If you are wondering, Shinnosuke-kun turned out fine. When I wrote this to you, he was happily married with two sons, working as a social worker near Osaka. He keeps in touch with Yuuma, because of their similar careers.

 **…  
**

 _Cher_ Sora,

Killing someone, especially someone you love, leaves its scars. Obviously, it changes you, the way you look at things, and the view of your world, but also, it scars you-leaves you _endommagé de façon permanente._ It is not something you forget, and you can't ever forget it, or pretend that it never happened, as from there on in, the pain of killing forms who you are for the rest of your life. But perhaps, if you are lucky, if you can see the way to the future, then there is hope of that pain easing. Such was the case with me, and the rest of my class. At least, it _was_ the case. It turns out that some scars don't fade and heal, they just burrow under the surface and fester, ready to strike at any moment. To drag you back under, put you right back where you started, or probably somewhere worse.

This is how this tragedy ended up happening, beginning with Kaede's scars festering enough that she ended up killing again, but on a much more brutal scale. Murder, not assassination. Malicious, not merciful. The victim….he was not an innocent man. Kotaro Yanagisawa was, during our 3E days, one of our foes, and a rather ruthless one at that. I do not wish to give too much letter space to him, but it was his experiments that created the creature that became our teacher, became Koro-sensei. He did some _impardonnable_ things in the name of that, and did not care if our lives were dispensed of in the process. Generally, though he must have had a brilliant, intelligent mind to be the scientist he was, as a man, he was all rotten, putrid to the core. But nobody deserves murder. Nobody. I hope you remember that, Sora.

But I am digressing, aren't I? Kaede ended up getting life for that. It was almost a death sentence, for the level of premeditation she put into it…..it is both a sign of a coldly calculating and an utterly cracked mind, past all concepts of sanity or insanity, goodness, or badness. I shudder now, to think of it. But I am glad, despite that, that in the end it was a life sentence- because in the end, she was a classmate, one of us, and I could not bear it, for a classmate to go that way. It is not like a life sentence gets her off scot-free, though. She will never see the outdoors again. And asides from prison visits, she will never see us again, and certainly not Nagisa. For though he was not the one who held the knife that delivered the final blow to Yanagisawa, and was not even there, on another day, another time, he had delivered a final blow. Another day, another time, he had been there to rein Kaede in, save her before she did something with irreversible consequences. This time, not the case. And so his scars have struck too, flaring with a new pain, and now he has withdrawn from us, and his life. Completely, and fully. And he because of them, he feels he cannot face us. I still hold hope that this is temporary, and that he will come back to us, resume his life, but at the same time, we do not think so.

In 3E, he had shown real potential for assassination. If Koro-sensei had not been adamant that we should try and lead more wholesome lives, if he and Karasuma-sensei had not tried their utmost best to keep our lives balanced, allow us a proper adolescence, then perhaps he would have gone underground, and become a professional. And I suspect that now, that's where he has gone. Not willingly. I don't think willingly. But the guilt, the responsibility -I think that anyone seeking his talents could have taken advantage of that. We recently found out that one professional assassin we met as a result of 3E was passing through the area that night, the one of Kaede's sentencing. They could easily have met and….well. It is possible we may have lost him. It is hard to say. All that we can do, at this point, is wait.

I suppose that you are reading this with no understanding of what I talk of, even with references to previous letters. Do you know Nagisa? Have you met him, between the present day of this letter, and whenever it is right now as you read it? Or does the name ring no bells at all? If not, then that means that he never did come back to us, and that we've all made efforts to make you forget that the two of them even existed. I….the murder, and the reasons for the murder, though they made a buzz in Japan, their stories have been placed under strict, strict restrictions. Because you see, the links between this murder, and Koro-sensei's killing, are so much more than just having people related to both events. It is all tangled in each other-the motive, the method, and all. To say much about that would reveal the secrets the government have been trying so hard to keep. The ones I have written to you about because I cannot ever tell you, _mon petit chou_. And what good would it do you all, to have to remember someone who can't be there, for such painful reasons? In this, there is a new advantage to having you brought up here, because of course, the buzz has not reached here. There are some parents at the Japanese school who've heard tit-bits from their relatives and friends, but of course, what they know is barely the beginning.

In any case, you are oblivious. You spend your days going to school, somehow charming all your teachers into going easy on you, doing your homework, playing with Daniel and your other friends (and helping to annoy Adrienne because that is what the best friend of a little brother always does, it seems), going to the park, spending all your pocket money on sweets, exchanging letters with Ikuko, helping me in the kitchen and constantly trying to renegotiate your chores, always asking me questions about everything and anything. Every day, you surprise and impress me. You are my child, amazing and wonderful, but still just a child. I cannot burden that person, and I will not.

But that does not mean that by writing this I am trying to burden you now, however old you happen to be. Rather, I am just trying to make amends, in a way. These secrets I keep are lies by omission, big ones. And you have never deserved to be lied to on such a scale. And so this is how I fix it.

 _Tendrement,_

 _Maman_

 **…**

Cher Sora,

It is a little strange, watching you these days. You are the same age as I was then, in 3E, the assassination classroom. I was in the last year of middle school, you in the last year of _Collège_. I was studying for high school entrance exams, and you are preparing for getting into _Lycée._ Beyond that, for obvious reasons, this year is not particularly going to be similar to mine. But still, I find myself watching, and comparing. I suppose I am waiting and watching, to see if the one thing that will shape you is on its way.

Perhaps it will be the more ordinary trials of adolescence, such as your friendships and romantic relationships, that will shape you. I had my own trials in that area-I used to get a lot of romantic confessions during middle school….a lot from girls, for some reason, but I did get male attention, too. On Valentine's Day during 3E, I got Yuuma some chocolates he could share with his little brother and sister-they were just little children back then. But we did not actually have a romantic connection. I'll admit to you now, in high school, we did try dating-but really, we were always just like friends, and now I suppose he is family. Not that that has stopped most of our friends 'shipping' us. But anyway. I have sometimes wondered what would have happened if we had had those sorts of feelings. He is a wonderful father to his girls, and so I know he would have been the same to you, too. Much better than Xavier, though that isn't hard to achieve. But then, you would not be Sora Kataoka now, would you? And the lives we've both built, we're happy with them, more than happy. I would not swap you for anything, Sora. But still, the wondering is pertinent, for though you do not seem to care too much about it, the absence of a father must be doing something to you. Maybe, when you are an adult, you will seek him out. Hopefully, if you do, he will react better to having a grown son as opposed to a baby-in-the-making.

You brought home a girl the other weekend, actually. Émilie, I think her name was. You were going to the cinema together, and then going for pizza with Daniel and the others later. She seemed smitten with you, but it didn't seem like this would be a serious thing, and so though I was sure to give you a long, careful talk afterwards, when you had dropped her off and come home, I am not too worried about that date, or any others you may have. But I find myself hoping that, whether this pans out or not, you will treat her right. Your peers seem to gravitate to you, which I am proud of, and I am sure that is a quality you have retained. But I hope that won't, and hasn't, translated into you seeing yourself as above everyone, that you do not forget your humanity and treat the weak, those below you, as lesser. That whether Émilie turns out to be a serious girlfriend or not, you will be good to her, and give her the proper respect a human being deserves, and the same would apply to other relationships, too.

It is not that I doubt your ability to do this. I raised you, I know I will have tried to instil such values in you, values passed onto me from Koro-sensei. I still try to, even now. I see you performing kindnesses without a second thought. But it is easy to lose sight of yourself, to make mistakes, to get caught up in one thing that you forget the other factors. I have done this, over and over again. The reason I got into 3E in the first place, twenty-one years ago? I was helping a 'friend' with her work so extensively, my own life suffered, and that included my grades. Karma was too complacent with his own academic abilities, and so his grades dipped once during that year. We were all so confident in our ability to juggle our training and studying that in free-running across the rooves, we scared an old man off of his bike. There are other examples that I could include, but the point is, if you forget the fact that you and everyone else around you is human, then hurt results. And so I just want you to be careful, and hold onto that humanity.

And then, whatever your adolescence ends up being, however it forms you, you'll come through it just fine. Even if we had vastly different experiences at this age, I think this applies well to you too.

 _Tendrement,_

 _Maman_

 **…**

 _Cher_ Sora,

The pride I feel today is beyond words, almost. But still, I have to write something. _Je suis si fier de toi_ .You have come of age, after all. Okay, so in France, you've already been an adult for two years, but I feel this is momentous, and I am glad that you decided you wanted to experience that for yourself. Of course, I had been looking forward to this milestone for a long time, but if you really had not wanted it, I wouldn't have pushed it. But I am happy that you did. I had expected that there'd be more of a sense of _dépaysement_ , that perhaps you'd feel a little bit out of water here, especially as _Lycée_ , and more recently, university, has prevented you from coming here recently. But no, you seemed to slip in right where you left off, looking so smart in the suit you'd picked out, and nobody would have realised that you were not brought up here, nor that you are only half- Japanese. Not that issues of half or whole matter all that much, but they are part of who you are, and you accept that so well, and I am proud of that (and it constantly amuses me how you still say ' _Maman_ ' even when speaking in Japanese). In any case, I suspect that Daniel is causing more of a stir in the streets of Kunugigaoka Town right now-it's not often a young Frenchman attends a Japanese coming-of-age ceremony dressed in full _hakamashita_! You've made a good friend in him, and I hope that lasts throughout your adulthood too. And since you don't have schoolmates with which to reunite with here, I hope Ikuko's enjoying tagging along with you and showing you the sights-even if she can't drink yet! Still, it will be her turn next year, so I don't think she's too bothered.

When I came of age, it was the year before you were born, and a little while before I would become pregnant with you. I had been studying in France for two years by that point, but I made a point of coming back for this, saving money for a _furisode_ and all. The whole of our 3E made a point of trying to get back, actually, from the various places that they had gone. We had wanted to go up to the old campus that day, and pay our respects to Koro-sensei and Yukimura-sensei, show him that we had become adults. But unfortunately, on that day it wasn't possible to do so, for reasons I cannot even remember now. But Hinano had known of a good, quiet park where we could do the same, not too far from a restaurant. So after the ceremony we went to eat there, and then went to that park. Mostly, we just talked and reminisced. Yuuma announced his engagement to Mari-san (she wasn't there, for she had come from another town, and was reuniting with her own high-school classmates) which was just another reason to celebrate, really.

But the coming-of-age wasn't about the celebration. We got tracked down, by Karasuma-sensei, as well as Sonohara-san and Ukai-san, with papers to sign. You see, after 3E, the government had been keeping an eye on us, not wanting the class to go renegade and start killing indiscriminately or something, and certainly not blabbing the secrets that they so desperately wanted to keep. But of course, what was required of us had been different back then, because we were children. But now we were adults, things were a lot different. Since we were in charge of our own lives, we had more responsibility to keep the secrets, make sure nobody would find out- not even our own spouses or children. And the five years between our 3E and our coming of age had been a probation period of sorts-we did not need to be watched so much, for the years had been enough to satisfy them that we would not cause problems. That assumption must have been given a real kick in the teeth when the whole debacle with Kayano and Nagisa happened, but it seems they had the good sense to see that was a one-off, and aberration. But in any case, in becoming adults, we were given both a sense of freedom, and a heavier burden. Also their fault, because they really should have placed more restrictions on Yanagisawa, then maybe none of what happened would have happened.

But to be fair, we still had normal high-school lives for the most part, thanks to Karasuma-sensei-and he has always been running interference for us, even after his early retirement. But even so, the weight of obligation, both legal and moral, is a heavy one for people just trying to lead everyday lives, for trying to just move on and come to terms with things. And we had been trying to pay our respects to our dead teachers as adults, too. Instead, we were reminded that that was where it had started, that though they had always wanted the best for us, they still put us in that position in the first place. Especially Koro-sensei.

Still, in the end, we did enjoy ourselves, and did feel that we got something out of it, that reunion. It set the tone for a lot of the reunions that we had over the years. And since your coming-of-age will not have the added burdens, I feel sure that yours will be just as satisfactory, if not better. And, _mon fils_ , I look forward to knowing you as an adult from this moment onwards. In any case, I am getting tired now-see, I must be getting old-so I will go to sleep now, and will most likely be asleep when you two finally come back! I have no doubt you will tell (meaning, boast to) me all about it the next morning, and I can't wait.

 _Tendrement,_

 _Maman._

 **…**

 _Cher_ Sora,

If you end up visiting me today, you would probably find me in quite a state. You remember, don't you, about Hinano? We were all hoping that perhaps she could beat it, that the doctors were wrong. But no. She is really dying, the day will be any time soon, and so I need to be there. As support, so that I can attend the funeral, all sorts. I would be going to Japan anyway, in a couple of months' time, for the next 3E, but that could be too late. And the plane bookings are driving me utterly _mad_! I have to get there, you know. I do, and I am not so sure I can think of much else. I suspect that once you see the date on this letter, you will instantly be taken back to this day, of my frenzy. Yet here I am, writing this to you, because I need to.

I have decided that this will be the final of the letters. I do not think that there is much else that can be said about the things I have been saying-I have exhausted it all. But also, because this letter has stirred me into action. Because I had always thought that when I died, it would be much later, when you were more the age I am now or something along those lines, but Hinano has proved that this may not be the case. Her twins are only fourteen, after all. They are still young, still children. And sure, you may be in a vastly different situation, as a young adult but….you are still young, still my child, _mon fils_. It is too soon for me to leave you behind, and yet absolutely anything could happen.

So instead of just letting these letters sit and gather dust in a drawer, I will be finding a solicitor, and giving him or her instructions about what must be done, when and how you should receive them (another reason you may remember finding me frazzled today!). It seems that now is a good place to end these letters. I wish that I could have just told you the things that I have been writing about over the years, given you a chance to ask me questions, to tell me what you think or how you feel about all this. I am sure that there are things that I have not thought of, factors that I didn't consider. And because of that, you won't ever know these things. Some secrets really will die with me. And more than ever, that strikes me as incredibly unfair. Tada-kun and Hiro-Chan, they won't get to find out about these things, ever. And they, just like you, Ikuko and her sisters, Arisa, Youko, Touji, Kou-kun and his siblings, and all the rest of the kids that the various members of this 3E have had, have all been affected by it, because of their parents. And they will not get to know. It is not as if we can _all_ write letters like this. And given the restrictions we are under, I am taking a risk with these, and that isn't one we're all comfortable with taking. Hell, none of them even know that I do this in the first place.

Say, I wonder if I have ever told you why I named you 'Sora'. It is the word for 'sky' ( _ciel_ , in French), as you know, and it is a unisex name. When I was expecting you, I decided not to find out if you were a son, or a daughter, and just looked for names I liked. If you were a girl, I was planning to call you 'Noemi', because that works in both the languages for both your heritages. I couldn't find an equivalent boy's name, so I really had just picked out a few simpler ones and hoped for the best. And then you were born and the love I felt for you, _mon petit chou_ ….I did not know how someone so tiny could produce such feelings in me, nor did I understand how a mere human could _have_ such feelings. I wasn't even sure what the size was, just that it was limitless, stretching as far as I could see, and then some. Just like the sky, I soon realised. And though 'Sora' was not a name that I had ever considered, I knew then that it was the right name for you. And it fits you so well, even to this day. My love for you is still limitless. I do not know if I made the right choices, in the wheres and hows and whys of how I chose to brought you up, but all of them I did believing they were right, believing that this is what was needed, for the sake of your happiness and well-being. And in turn, you have given me much happiness too, not just from all your success, but just from being. I am sure you will continue to give me these happinesses too, as you grow older, perhaps settling down, have children of your own, that sort of thing (I hope I will be around long enough to see any grandchildren I may have!). Wherever you are now, whatever your life is like now, as you read these, I hope that you are happy and wonderful and enjoying life as you always do. I hope that it turns out that I did do right by you, that I was a good Maman to you. And, I hope that you will be able to forgive me for hiding these things from you.

 _Tendrement (_ always, and forever _),_

 _Maman_

* * *

 **Cher: 'Dear', informal way of addressing a loved one in a letter.  
Tendrement: 'All my love'  
Troisième: the highest grade in French **_**Collège (**_ **age 14-15)  
Collège: French secondary school/ junior high.  
École primaire: French primary school.  
École maternelle: French pre-school/kindergarten.  
Mon petit chou: 'My little cabbage' term of endearment used for children, '** _ **chou**_ **' (which means cabbage) being used to mean something along the lines of 'cute'.  
Lycée: French high school.  
Endommagé de façon permanente: 'permanently damaged.'  
Impardonnable: 'unforgivable'  
Dépaysement: refers to something like culture shock, the sense of not belonging, of not being in your own country.  
Hakamashita: The name for the set of traditional clothes men wear in the Japanese coming-of-age.  
Furisode: the kimono type that unmarried women wear, with the long trailing sleeves. Also worn by young women during the coming-of-age.  
Mon fils: 'my son'  
je suis si fier de toi: 'I am so proud of you'  
ciel: 'sky'**


	70. Parrallel Lines

Izzy sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. Idly, he span the chair around a few times, letting himself go dizzy for a little while, and then, using his feet, he brought the chair to a halt, and then repositioned so that he was looking at the computer screen. Frowning for a moment, he studied what was on the screen, and then tapped in a few more commands, before checking the time on his phone, and then going back to what he was doing. Not that it was particularly important stuff he was doing-really, he was just keeping his skills sharp. But now that there was no mystery to solve, there wasn't really much else to do. He was looking into school things, just in case they needed to resort to blackmail for the project (okay, so far they had all been dismissing it due to it being illegal, but the way he saw it, that was a small issue, and it might be useful if all else failed. That, and all he was doing was looking for information, which was not the same as using it), and so far, not much had come of it. But all the same, he would keep trying.

 _I kind of miss it, the mystery._ It had been a lot of fun, not just because of the level of hacking skills it had required, but the nature of the mystery itself. Over the year, he'd started to get sucked into the possible story, and then once he had stumbled across the murder, that hadn't helped things. But now, there were answers coming. Admittedly, they were coming in cautious dribs and drabs, all regulated by paperwork and fear and years of habit- _and_ they'd had to wait a while until they even got that much, but still, answers. Part of him had not expected that he-that all three of them, really- would even get given any of them in the first place. _I didn't even expect that the truth would be what it was._ But no, they were starting to get the truth and….he was a weird mixture of disappointed and satisfied. And something else, too. He wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but he knew where it came from: the fact that the truths were part of a family history. Not just a history of the class he was in, but a family history. And if there was anyone who knew about complicated family histories, it was him. Perhaps they were so radically different in nature, but still, at the root, it came down to family. And that was a strange, strange thing for him to consider.

Because once, all he'd really had was a mother who he didn't miss, who had not even wanted to be his mother in the first place. He only remembered her by coldness and absences. Hearing about her from Isogai and the others, it sounded like that she had probably been suffering from depression for a long time, with no real respite from it, the only thing stirring her out of it inaccessible, and the issue being exacerbated by her own parents and their insistence on maintaining image and avoiding scandal. He could understand some of it-her parents were his grandparents, he knew what they were like. But he had no sympathy for her, and strangely, knowing more about her made him miss her less than he had used to. He was aware this was not normal, but he didn't really think much of it, because there wasn't anything that could be done about it. And now, he had gained a father in Shinjuro, and an older brother in Kuroba. And then there was Hana, not a relative, but in a way, their friendship was strongly entangled in the sibling relationship that he'd found, so in his mind, she might as well have been a family member, too. It was not exactly an entire family, but to his mind, it was a complete one. And he had gained it all at once.

 _And,_ he mused, _it was going to change everything._ Shinjuro had not shied away from what he deemed his responsibilities to Izzy, just as he had promised. And some of that had included getting into contact with his grandparents and letting them know that he knew. They had not really been able to handle it, and now it seemed his future was on the line. _And for what, exactly? There is no scandal anymore, is there? Not with the only others who could have been hurt by this gone in one way or another, and not with the one 'responsible' as it were confessing easily to it._ But still, he knew that the people who had been bringing him up would not change, and so if he had to go, he would. The Kuroba home had plenty of space, and he was even going over to stay there for a few days, later in the holiday. Perhaps he could live with them, if the need arose. Sure, Yuuya and Naoya would open their doors to him with no hesitation, but he wanted the chance to live with a family –his family, and he would take it as soon as it was presented to him. Still, he would miss them being across the road to him, the way he could so easily get to them if needed. On an impulse, he pushed away from the desk, and wheeled his chair a little closer to the window, and looked out the house. As always, it made him smile. _They're family too, in a way, I guess. Not the same way Sei-Chan and Shinjuro-san are, but still, they are family. I hope that can remain constant._

He shook the musing away, and wheeled back to his computer, and tapped a few commands idly, before shrugging to himself, and closing the programs. There was not much else he could do on this front for now, so he decided to leave it. Perhaps he could come back to it later. Or ask Shiki. He was loath to call it a friendship, or even an acquaintanceship, but they had definitely sparked over similar interests in computers, and hacking. And he knew that she had an evening job that centred around hacking, which might or might not have been to do with the government (he suspected it was). She was odd, but then again, so was he, and he knew it and just did not care. There were definitely things he could learn from what she knew. Then again, knowing a fellow hacker also awakened the urge to compete, to see how far he could get into a program or database in comparison to her. _So….yeah….maybe I'll just leave it for now._

Chuckling to himself at that, he got up, but did not fully shut down his computer, instead going to the backpack that was half-opened and flung lazily on the bed. Opening it fully, he checked he had all the books and things that he needed. He, Kuroba and Hana had planned to do their winter homework assignments together, as early on in the holiday as they could, and so today they were meeting up and going to make use of the library to do just that. _Makes a change from going there to look at the old papers and archives,_ he thought wryly as he double-checked everything (he didn't want to be told off, after all). Once he was satisfied, he zipped up the bag, and went back to the computer, think he would just surf the internet until it was time to go. His phone was still lying next to it, and he picked it up, idly flicking the screen on to check the time, and noticed it was close to when he was planning to leave anyway. So he shut down the computer, and then tucked his phone into his pocket, before grabbing his bag off his bed and his jacket off the hook on his door. And then he left his room without looking back.

 **…**

"I wonder sometimes, if it was a mistake for me to send you to Kunugigaoka."

"Eh?" Ayako had been reaching for a loaf of bread, but turned to stare at her mother, who was regarding a packet of bagels, propping the packet up against the supermarket shelves to read it better. "Why do you say that? I…..Do you not like what we've been doing?"

"Oh, no, no, no, that isn't what I meant!" Naomi looked at her, her hair flying as she shook her head. "I _loved_ the museum. I loved seeing it, and finding out about Ending the End Class and...well, I am wondering why I was so worried about you being in 3E. But…."

"But…?" Ayako queried. Naomi shrugged, and put the bagels back, before picking up the basket, and gesturing to the loaf Ayako was holding. Once she dropped it in, they walked to the next section of the supermarket.

"I was only thinking about one thing when I decided to pull you out of your old school and send you to Kunugigaoka- the pursuit of knowledge. I didn't even consider any other factors that might make the school a good fit for you. Now I am thinking about it, there wasn't really all that much wrong with your old place in the first place, but yet I just compared it to what I had heard about Kunugigaoka and I just went for it."

"You thought it was the right thing to do, right? For my education and all." Ayako asked, before shrugging. "In any case, I don't miss it there, you know. And my old friends….well, I'm kinda glad I'm shot of them. "

She thought about how apparently, Tada's mother and most of the other former members of that 3E had made a promise to not send their children to Kunugigaoka. They had been convinced that they were doing the right thing there, too. She didn't mention this though, for there was no point to it.

"Well, I _thought_ it was," Naomi answered as they navigated their way around the supermarket, only occasionally breaking her explanation to check against the shopping list, or ask Ayako to fetch an item, or read the ingredient labels. "But I'm not so sure anymore. Especially not now I know more about the 3E system. Looking back on things….I could have been easier on you, Ayako. Yes, you were slacking, and yes, your grades are _very_ important, especially for the future, but I didn't need to act as if you were heading down the path to ruin, because really, you weren't. So you'll have to take entrance exams for a separate high school rather than just continuing on to Kunugigaoka's like the main campus will. So what? What does that even _mean_? You would have done the same if I hadn't had you transferred! And even I know that's not an excuse to be treated so badly…..so I have been thinking that I shouldn't have done that, because a school that has that kind of system, basically allowing for institutionalised abuse…that isn't a system that emphasises education and learning! No, that's a system that values cruelty over anything else. And I was putting you in danger, making you endure mocking and bullying just for the sake of getting more 'knowledge'. As a mother, I can't really forgive myself for doing that. "

"Mum….." Ayako was dumbstruck. _What to even say to that…?_

"You know…." She started, as they reached the till and she unloaded their items onto the conveyer belt. "If I hadn't gone to Kunugigaoka, and met Tada-san and everyone else, and ended up in 3E with them, then we wouldn't have been able to attempt to end the 3E system. It would still be going on."

"But that shouldn't have needed to be your responsibility."

"It needed to be someone's, though. That system's been going on for thirty years too long!"

"Thirty?" Naomi wrinkled her brow at this, as she got her purse out. "But Kunugigaoka's been open for 41 years. "

 _Oops._ "Yeah, that's what I meant. Someone needed to do it, and it didn't look as if anyone would. So we stepped in. And in any case, it's been a big motivator for us, with our exams and all."

"Ah, yeah. I'm still so dumbstruck over how you all managed to get yourself into the top 50. That is pretty amazing. "

"Exactly, Mum! And I think I made some really good friends. Friends who stick with you no matter what, through the ups and downs and even the curveballs. And that can only be a good thing, right?"

Naomi didn't respond for a moment as she paid the cashier and got her receipt, but then, as she grabbed the bags and handed some to Ayako to carry, she nodded.

"Yes, it is. They seem a nice bunch, your class. Ruko-Chan and Tada-kun and Makoto-kun and Kaori-Chan and the rest of them. I like that you're friends with them, much more than the old group you had. But…." Naomi sighed as they left the shop and a breeze hit them. "I still worry. That's all. Don't get me wrong, Ayako, I am awestruck and proud of you and behind you on this all the way…it's just that I worry."

"Oh, Mum!" Ayako smiled warmly, hoping to be reassuring. "You don't need to, really. It's all fine. I promise."

"Yes, well….." Naomi smiled back, but there was something a touch pensive about it. Then, she regarded their shopping bags.

"You're not going out to see them later today, are you?"

"Tomorrow, and some other times across the holidays, but no, not today. Why?"

"Well, we'd need to go back home to put these away, given that we've got perishables and frozen items here, but what do you say we go out for lunch today? Perhaps to that café we used to go to when you were little?"

"I think that would be the most awesome thing ever! Let's do it!"

 **…**

Rio had surprised herself when she had offered to take up the responsibility for talking to the children about what had happened thirteen years ago, but in truth, if that was anybody's responsibility, it was hers more than anyone else's really. That, and she had been the one who had so desperately wanted to come clean. So it would almost be hypocritical of her if she didn't say anything at all. Of course, there were some things that she would not say. They did not need to know about seven years ago, for example. That was her mess-up, and hers alone. But thinking about that did make her wonder if she should tell a certain someone.

 _It's not like she knows, and how would it affect her anyway? And isn't it punishment enough, everything that has happened? Why would I pile more onto that? And yet…and yet…_ it would be hypocritical of her. She felt that it would be, to say that they shouldn't keep their secrets, and yet continue keeping them. It had been hard enough, lying over these years. And Rio was sure that she had noticed it the way she struggled to meet her eyes, how she stumbled over her words when trying to give the emptiest of updates on his welfare during the few times she had gone to visit and check up on her. Rio knew that it hadn't escaped her. No matter how much the light had drained from her old friend, she knew that she had picked up on it. _It wouldn't be right, to keep lying._ That, and perhaps at last, it would be a relief of some sort. She had yet to find any real peace after all, even though it was a single lapse in judgement. _Ah, this is difficult._

"Aunt Rio?"

"Ah!" she blinked, and looked at the kids she had around her rarely-used dining table. Tada and Hiro, obviously, of course, but also three of their classmates-Izzy, Kuroba and Hana. A self-styled detective squad who had taken an interest in the whole sorry mess of thirteen years ago , from what she knew. They seemed so different to each other, and yet matched up so nicely it was almost terrifying to see. But also quite funny. And it reminded her of her own 3E.

"Sorry, Tada." She apologised. "I was just lost in my own thoughts. "

"Does it bring back a lot of memories, talking about it now?" Hana inquired sweetly, looking at her wide-eyed and with a touch of worry, her posture almost excessively formal. Rio shook her head.

"No….well, yes. But only because I think of it all the time anyway. I feel a little….guilty, for how it turned out."

"Why would you?" Kuroba asked. "A murder is a murder, isn't it? And this one was particularly premeditated. "

"Perhaps because it was her job to try and get her off?" Hiro suggested caustically.

"No, no, I didn't want her to be acquitted."

When all five of them gawped at her, she sweat dropped and took a deep breath. Clearly, she needed to clarify what she meant.

"I didn't want Kaede to get off scot-free. Even if we understood her grief, and all knew the reasons for her doing what she did….it was still wrong. Still against what we all stood for, in a way. Especially since she'd decided to live as Kaede Kayano from 3E onwards as a new start. It was as if she had just forgotten all that had gone into that. So she needed to face consequences in some way or another. I wasn't looking to acquit her. But….it was just _him_. Just Yanagisawa that she would have killed. She wasn't a risk, because there wasn't anyone else Kaede would realistically have a reason to target. That, and some of it….it was a lapse on our part. We all thought that we'd put everything behind us, that we were all healed. Nobody considered that some of us could still be hurting. So it didn't seem fair that she should get such a punishment. We didn't want that- and I certainly didn't."

"So then, what were you hoping for?" Tada asked.

"A sentence that would be carried out in a psychiatric institution. " Rio answered, easily. "Kaede shouldn't have been held fully accountable for her actions, and so she should have gone somewhere where she could have gotten treatment of some kind. Even if it was far away from here and we'd have to use a lot of money and fuel to visit, that would have been the better option. But certainly not for life. Maybe 10 years, or 20. But something that had….some hope at the end of it. I suppose that the state of things is better than what we could have hoped for-given that they were gunning for death row, at first."

"Do you think that she could have gotten better though?" Hiro asked. Rio considered this.

"Once." She eventually said. Then she paused, not sure as to what to say. The children looked amongst themselves, but did not probe further. As much as she wanted to be honest with them, she was grateful for that.

"So….I think I covered everything, more or less." She frowned, trying to go over everything she had said, but she had talked so much that she was not sure. "But do you have any questions?"

"You didn't mention where Nagisa-san might have been, during the initial stretch of his disappearance." Tada pointed out.

"Yeah, that's right. I get the basic idea, that his guilt made him go to ground for a while, but I got the sense that well, something else must have happened in that meantime, for him to disappear for so long, and remain the same right now." Izzy casually spun a pencil around his fingers as he asked this. Rio wondered when he had taken the pencil out, but shunted the thought aside.

"Ah…that. It's not really something we've been able to confirm-though of course we're all fairly confident in thinking this-, but we think Nagisa got embroiled with Lovro. He was in the area, at the time. Nothing to do with us at the time, but possibly he took advantage of Nagisa's state to get what he wanted." _And I can never forgive that, either. At least he's long dead now._

"Lov…ro….the guy who was Bitch-sensei's boss?" Hiro tipped her head. "Why would he do that?"

"Ah, oh god, this is a _whole_ new kettle of fish. " Rio stretched and groaned. "He trained us a little, too. Mostly for an assassination attempt we did in the summer."

"On the island. The one that Kunugigaoka used to have a summer trip to, for the high performing students." Kuroba stated.

"Yes, one and the same. Anyway, the thing was, there were a few of us who'd become particularly good at various skills relating to assassination, and this interested Lovro. And Nagisa…well, it seemed that he had the makings of an assassin, through and through. Sure, he looked like a cute harmless squirt, but he had a certain _something_. And of course, a professional would spot something like this. And as a professional, and possibly one of the less scummier underground-types we met during our time in that classroom, when he approached some of us to try and recruit us and we rejected him, he accepted it and just got on with the things he did. But as a professional, he would have kept a loose eye on us, looking for any chance that the tides might change and he would be able to get the answer he desired. And Nagisa, on the day of the sentencing…..everything had been drained from him, _everything._ "

"Then it would have been easy then, for a 'professional' such as this guy to manipulate him."

"Exactly. " Rio sighed. "Exactly. I mean, Lovro died around 11 years ago now, according to some things Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei managed to find. So if Nagisa did become an assassin, it wasn't for long."

"But long enough, for the damage to set in and become irreversible." Hiro was flat as she said this. Rio tried to catch her eye. _What do you think of all of this?_ Hiro met her eye eventually, and smiled weakly.

" _I'm fine."_ She signed. Rio nodded.

"Yes." She said, agreeing and acknowledging with both the said and the signed words. "That is more or less what happened on that count. "

"And with that, it seems that we know all that there is to know about this. Our so called 'mystery' is closed." Kuroba commented.

"There's one more thing I'm not sure about though…." Tada piped up.

"But…." Hana objected at the same time. Surprised, the two looked across the table at each other.

"Ah, it's okay, you can ask first." Hana deferred. Tada nodded at her, and then turned to Rio.

"It's about….well, Yanagisawa-san…..the way he….." Tada trailed off and pulled a face. "I don't know how to ask this without sounding voyeuristic ."

"Try anyway. Nobody's going to judge." Rio said, regarding Tada curiously. The others also looked a little confused-but Hana, not so much.

"I'll try. I think I know what he is asking. " Hana offered. She took a deep breath, and then another one, looking visibly shaken as she tried to gather her words. Kuroba put a hand on her shoulder, almost a casual gesture, though from the way he tipped his head slightly to look at her and how he startled a little when Hana reached up and curled her fingers around one of his in an absent way, it was clear it was more than this. And Izzy was poised and ready to step in too. But eventually, she spoke.

"The way he got killed….being cut up and restrained like that. With the….." Hana let out another shudder. "It was….some of it seems so pointless, and yet for a reason. It was for a reason, right? And that….that contributed to the secrecy. What…what was it?"

Rio just gawped. For a moment, she was taken back to sitting in her office, leafing through the various police reports, the door locked so that nobody could barge in and accidentally look over her shoulders at what she was reading. The moment that she had turned to the crime scene photo, the one that showed all that remained of Yanagisawa in all of its bloody horror, and instantly recognised it. Then, she took a deep breath.

"Do you guys know how it was we killed Koro-sensei?" she asked them. It was a roundabout way of saying it, but she did not know how to broach the topic.

"Yes. Sort of. I think?" Tada's forehead creased. Rio sighed.

"What it came down to in the end was all of us, holding him down by his tentacles, all of them at the same time, so that he could not move. He was weak enough anyway, at that point, but holding him down, that rendered him powerless. And then, Nagisa, he…..was the one who delivered the killing blow. Right through his heart."

There was a silence after that. The children all exchanged looks. Rio waited, for she was sure it would sink in soon enough. And sure enough, it did.

"Oh! I get it. It was a mirror." Hana gasped. "The method was a mirror. "

"Huh?" the other four stared at her. She let out a frustrated sound, which would have been cute in any other circumstance, but was pained in this moment.

"Don't you see? Even Kayano-san herself said that Yanagisawa-san should have died instead of Koro-sensei. "

"That….doesn't really follow, Li'l Aoshima-san." Izzy was still puzzled.

"No, it does. That makes sense….yes, it does." Kuroba said slowly. Tada and Hiro also nodded to show that they had got it, and then they waited as Izzy frowned, still spinning the pencil. Then, it stilled, and he gawped.

"Oh! Seriously?"

"Yeah, it must be." Tada said. Then, he turned to Rio. "Is that right, Aunt Rio?"

She nodded soberly.

"Yes, you're all right. Thirteen years ago, Kaede was trying to kill Yanagisawa in the same way that we killed Koro-sensei thirty years ago."

* * *

 **And there it is, the big revelation about 13 years ago. Well, in a way. I've been trying to hint at this in previous chapters, but I may have been too subtle. but yeah. Anyway, this is more of an emotional cliffhanger than a plot cliffhanger...but just as a warning, next chapter will have a proper plot cliffhanger. And also it may only end up a single update, because I'm having a bit of trouble writing out the chapter, even though I know exactly what's going to happen and have planned it and everything...which is probably partially because I keep having other story ideas. But yeah. Hope you enjoy this chapter, anyway. As always, please leave feedback!**


	71. The Blue Hour

**Yeah, it does turn out that there is only one chapter this week**. **I'm not sure if I will even return to double updates now, and in addition to that, I will put up next week's chapter a bit earlier than Sunday, and then there will be a long while of no updates, due to having family stuff for a few days starting from next weekend. On the bright side, we are reaching the end portion of the story! Isn't that awesome?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, because some very exciting things happen here...(and as always, please leave feedback).**

* * *

Yasushi Otonashi got home, flopped on his bed, and sighed. He wondered what Hasegawa and the others were doing, whether they were heading up there already, and whether those second year girls that Maeda had thought would be 'good minions for the cause' had got involved in the end. He hoped not. It seemed irresponsible, involving juniors. But there wasn't much he had been able to say, in the end. When they had been fine-tuning what they'd were planning to do, the evening they had planned to go up there had turned out to be the same day as his aunt's birthday, and as he knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the inevitable celebrations, he'd had to bow out. In fact, they had all just come home from collecting the cake and decorations, and after a few hours for a light meal and a nap, they'd be heading straight back out again. There simply wouldn't have been time for him to slip out to the 3E building. And truthfully, he was glad for that excuse, for the fact that it was good enough of an excuse for Hasegawa, who valued family obligations very highly.

Because really, arson did not sit well with him.

 _Well of course it shouldn't, you idiot. It's a crime._ And yet the Student Council President had decided to take that action against 3E. Well, not him. He naturally, would never get his hands dirty. It was Otsuka and Maeda, along with Komori and her little gang, who would actually being going up there, but that was bad enough, especially with Otsuka being the deputy. Fujimura wasn't much better, having procured their supplies. And as for him-well, he wasn't doing anything, thanks to his aunt's birthday. But he was still guilty by association, from knowing about it and helping them to plan it. _Still, you won't get caught for it. Not if they do it right._ Because that was the point of doing this in the first place. To discredit 3E. Because how awful would it look, for them to be seen to be taking desperate measures for _their_ own cause? To burn down the site of their well-loved museum, just to make a point. It would be more than enough to turn the support that 3E had built up against them, in an instant. And it would be easy, so easy, to get people to testify that it could not have been anyone else but a 3E member, or all of them. Any other measure they'd tried to get 3E to back down and stop, to restore the status quo, it had failed. This was all that was left to them. And so, it had to succeed.

 _And yet…._ except, he was not sure if he believed that. No matter the justification, Otonashi still did not like the idea of burning down the building. Not just because he was concerned that maybe one of them would get hurt, but also because he really wasn't sure if there was any point. Perhaps it would be better to concede defeat gracefully, to bow down and admit that they had lost. If they did end up getting caught for this, they'd need to back down anyway, and the loss of face would be even worse. He did not particularly support 3E's cause, not really. Otonashi could not see what was wrong with the system, as it stood. So perhaps the rule that had been brought in was unnecessarily threatening, and possibly violating a few human rights, but asides from that, the hierarchy was one he could live with and manage. But he had to admire their persistence and discipline, their determination and resolve. If they weren't quite so insistent on being wild cards and mavericks, they would have surely done well for themselves in Kunugigaoka, but as it was, there was something admirable about the way they went about things, the way they endured. And so, he didn't fully like the idea of them being framed for this crime.

There was also the matter of Asami. Otonashi's fellow class representative….and yet, he had barely talked to her throughout the year, not in comparison to how he had conferred with Hasegawa and the other Virtuosos. It had just been the way things were-it was not as though he had shirked on his Class Representative duties, and Asami managed well on her own, but just before the winter break, the banter and respectful working relationship they had had just withered and frosted over, and all she gave him was the cold shoulder and stony glares. She did not even bother to attempt to bring issues to him, and deliberately excluded him as an option as to who a classmate could go to if in need, whenever she was asked. That, combined with this uneasiness he was feeling over what the rest of them were doing today and tonight, was starting to make him feel that maybe, just maybe, he had been horribly wrong. And the way he saw it, things were going to continue to go horribly wrong if he did not try to change it.

With a huff, Otonashi sat up, and checked in his pockets for his mobile, pulling it out and making sure there was enough battery. Then, he got up and ambled to his door, and listened for a moment, making sure that it didn't seem as if his parents or older sister Shizuku would be calling him down. As it happened, it didn't even seem like Shizuku was downstairs, so most probably she was just chilling in her own room, taking the advised nap. He wished he could do that, but he knew his sudden conscience would not allow him that luxury. He headed towards the window instead, and stared morosely at his back garden for a moment, holding out his phone in front of him. _Should I?_ What he was thinking doing, it was nothing other than a betrayal. It would help the cause he didn't want to help. But it would also prevent a crime, prevent the slandering of those who didn't deserve to be slandered, no matter their inferiority. _Pull it together, you need to do this._ If he didn't, there was a risk that Hana would be in the firing line, and that would devastate Asami. And he had respected her and liked her once (and truthfully, he still did). So he located the number in his contacts-saved near the beginning of the year, put to woefully little use, yet so easy to find- and called it, holding the phone to his ear.

But she did not pick up, and the call went to voicemail. Frustrated, he hung up and tried again. And again. And again.

"What's so important that you keep ringing me?!" Asami snapped on the other end after the fifth try.

"I, uh, are you busy?"

"The question is, aren't _you_ busy, being at the beck and call of the President and all?" her voice was venomous. He was surprised that she didn't just hang up on him in the first place, and so tried his utmost not to jinx things.

"I'm at home, not with them. And I….have something to tell you….an important thing."

"How important? Can it not wait until we get back to school?"

"Very important, Aoshima-san, and it can't."

"So what's the big deal then?"

"Well, it's about us Virtuosos, actually, something we're about to do."

"So confer with _them_. I'm not a virtuoso, I don't give a da-"

"It's not _like_ that!" _I'm messing up,_ he realised, even as he realised he couldn't do a thing about it.

"I'm trying to help _you_ by telling you this! I'm going behind their back to tell you about what they're doing, to stop them from putting your sister and her class in danger! Please listen!"

"Danger?" Now the venom dripped away, and Asami was alert and interested. "What are they going to do to Hana? And the rest of them? It's to do with Ending the End Class, right? It's because of that."

Otonashi was silent for a moment, suddenly afraid, his throat constricting.

"What are they going to do, Otonashi-kun? If you mean what you say, then spit it out!"

"I….uh…..I don't know…it…it's a bit outlandish…."

"Otonashi-kun, if you don't give me a reason to trust you, let alone listen to you for any longer, I _will_ hang up! For flip's _sake_ , _spit it out_! If my sister is going to be in danger then I need to know, no matter what your inferiority complexes are telling you!"

"Okay, okay, okay! Wait." He trembled, and took a breath to steady himself. _Goddamit, I have no choice. This is what needs to be done. This has to end. I'm sorry, guys._

"Okay, so this is what they've planned….."

And so, he told her everything.

 **…**

"Thank you, for coming with me today."

Hiro gave Yukiyama a surprised look.

"Why do you need to thank me?" she asked. "Of course I was always going to help you out. "

"Yes, well…thank you, anyway." Yukiyama cleared his throat, and she noticed his face had gone a little pink. Internally, she giggled a little bit, and squeezed his hand.

"You're welcome. Anyway, did that help today? Do you have any idea of where you'd want to go?"

"There was that apartment block, the one that was near the train station, but that's a bit out of my price range, though I think maybe in a couple of months' time that could change…"

"Hmm, and having a whole house doesn't really have any point to it, does it?" Hiro scrunched up her face, trying to remember what houses and flats she'd gone to see with Yukiyama. Most viewings, he'd done alone, which made sense, as he would be living alone, but at the same time, it was clear he needed the second opinion and the support, and of course, she was more than happy to step up to that and then some. She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that she found herself imagining what it would be like for her, going to visit him at one of these spaces, hanging out and having a meal and more than that, but the most important thing was that he found what was good for him.

"It's not like these are my only options though…..in any case, I can hold out a little while longer. "

"Are you sure about that, Saito?"

Yukiyama sighed, and puffed out a breath, before meeting her eye. Softly, he smiled. _Saito…_

"Yeah, sure. I know I'm getting out of there, after all…" he trailed off, and then shrugged. "I still have to do the grocery shopping though. Do you want me to walk you home first?"

"I'll come with you!"

When he raised an eyebrow at this, she pouted.

"What? It's not that late yet, plus it's not out of my way or anything. And just, why not?"

This made him laugh, and he gave in, shaking his head.

"if that's what you want then, Chihiro."

She giggled, and they chatted a little bit about nothing in particular as they headed to the shop. Yukiyama got out his shopping list, so they could make the visit efficient, and Hiro went to get a trolley when she something, a motion out of the corner of her eye that made her stop and stare out of the automatic doors.

"What's wrong, Chihiro?" Yukiyama asked.

"I'm not sure….wait a moment." She went out of the shop again, and walked in the direction she had sensed the shadow coming from, and saw a small group of figures running down a back road and towards the next street, clearly trying not to be seen. Carefully, she followed, edging closer, but not willing to pursue them completely. Then, they stopped, and looked around, as if searching for someone. Or waiting for someone. _What is this?_

"Are you okay?"

"You made me jump!" Hiro protested in a whisper as Yukiyama came up behind her. But she pointed over to the group.

"Those girls look like the ones in the second year that give our class hell from time to time? The one with the lipstick and her posse, whatever their names are?"

"Komori-san? How can you tell?"

"Their forms, the way they stand and move." came the answer. "It's not like I am sure though. But I do think those two look like Otsuka and Maeda."

"Oh. I wonder what they are up to?" Hiro had a bad feeling though. Yukiyama put a hand on her shoulder, but didn't say anything. They watched as the figures mumbled and fidgeted, chatting amongst each other. One swore a little more audibly, and this marked her out as Otsuka, confirming Yukiyama's guesses. But nothing much happened, until someone came up to them, holding up bags. After a moment of squinting, she guessed it was Fujimura. Words were exchanged, but Hiro was too far to hear them. But there were a few things she thought she heard that cemented the bad feeling she had, and made a snap decision for her.

"Saito, I think you'll have to do the shopping alone," she decided, turning to him. "I have to follow them."

"What? Why?"

"I think they're going to do something to the 3E campus. They mentioned it, and they laughed about it. "

"Are you sure you heard correctly?" Yukiyama asked. It was a fair question, but Hiro glared at it. _I can't just withdraw for once. Not when something that's important to Tada and you and everyone else is at stake. I can't withdraw. Papa wouldn't….at least, if he hadn't decided to die, he wouldn't have. And I think Nagisa would, too. He withdrew from the world too, but he would still try and intervene and….they aren't around, but I am, so I need to._

She did not say anything about this, but something of her feelings seemed to convey themselves to Yukiyama, for his shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes for a moment wearily before meeting her gaze again.

"I'm coming with you."

"But-what, you have to..I mean…."

Yukiyama took her hand firmly, and levelled her with a serious look.

"Forget that for now. You think something is wrong and you need to find out? I'll believe you, but I also want to stick by you, and help. I need to do that."

Hiro blinked. _Truthfully, I'd like that. Having someone with me. This could get scary, after all._

"Alright then, let's go."

"Good. You're guessing they're off to our campus, right? So let's go there a different way, see if we can get there before them….."

 **…**

Tsuwabuki let out a yawn as he washed plates and handed them over to his father to dry.

"Oh, are you tired, Daichi? I can take over there, if you want?"

"No, it's fine, Dad."

It had been a good day today, after all-meeting up with Hirigi, Haru, Kinomoto, Eriko and Kaori in the morning, then going up to dig in the school forests in the afternoon and now this, a quiet evening with his father. They'd had a simple dinner, and hadn't talked much while eating it-they tended not to talk while eating, unless they had people around or something like that. But while cleaning up they chattered about silly, light, random things, nothing in particular, but yet at the same time, it was reassuring and warm. Which made today a good day, he thought.

"Should we watch something together, after this is done?" his father offered. "There might be a good documentary on."

"I don't need to get up tomorrow, so yeah, I guess." Tsuwabuki shrugged. "Do you have a TV schedule?"

"I might do….I think one came in with the newspaper, but I'm not sure. I'll go look in a moment. You know, I'm surprised that you guys haven't been on TV, what with everything that happened."

"Ehhh…." Tsuwabuki hadn't thought of that. It was strange, but really, it was probably better for them, all things considered. Being on TV might only attract more like Shirasaka, but at the same time, it might have been good. Still, it wasn't like he knew these things.

"Meh, it doesn't matter that much. Perhaps when it's actually confirmed that we've ended the End Class, we'll make it on. Why, are you planning to record it or something when the moment comes?"

"Well of course. It's just as momentous as some of the discoveries that I've made. Possibly more so."

Tsuwabuki thought that his father was joking, but apparently, he wasn't.

"Uh….I wouldn't go that far, but thanks anyway. Here's the last cup-I'll go find that TV schedule, then."

Tsuwabuki's father nodded, and so he dried his hands and went to the living room. As always, there were piles of papers and various archaeological magazines on the coffee table, and so it took a moment before he found the magazine that had the TV schedules listed. Flicking through to the relevant day, he hummed an off-tune little rhythm as he looked to see if there would be anything on that he and his father might want to watch. As he did, he happily also thought of the good day he'd had, keeping it in the corner of his mind….and then suddenly, his mind stopped. _No way, did I seriously do that? Crap, crap, crap._

"Da-ad! I might need to postpone the TV watching, or at least delay it."

"Why, what's wrong, son?" the answer came, footsteps following soon after.

"I forgot my tools. In the forest." He was so embarrassed, but he continued on." I brought my torch home, and the things, but the rest of the box is out there."

His father, who had just come into the living room, shook his head in amazement.

"Daichi, how did you manage to do that?" he was frowning, but didn't seem angry, or even too disappointed. _Thank goodness._

"I…don't know. But I need to go and get them now, don't I?"

"Well, yes, that would be the best thing to do, but it's dark out now and….." he looked at the window, with its drawn curtains and sighed.

"If it's your old campus's forest, it would be alright to wait until tomorrow, when it is lighter, I think. Do you think you could wait?"

"Uh…" Tsuwabuki frowned. "I guess that makes sense, but I don't think I'll sleep, now I know I made a silly mistake like that….and it wouldn't be trouble to go get them, you know. I shouldn't take long to do so, I don't think."

"You won't get distracted by the possibility of new finds?"

" _Dad_. Like you said, it's dark out. I'll get the bits I forgot, and come straight back. Also, I have my torch, so it's not like I'll be going in blind."

"I…welll…" he appeared to consider it. "Take your phone with you then, won't you."

"Of course I will!" Tsuwabuki rolled his eyes a little. "I won't forget _that_."

 _I know I'm absent-minded and stuff, but really!_

"In which case, go. I'll pick something for us to watch in the meantime, so you'd best be quick. Oh, and stay safe. "

Tsuwabuki softened, and threw a smile over his shoulder as he ran from the room.

"I will, don't worry."

 **…**

He'd known something wasn't right for days. If somebody had come up to him and asked him how he knew this, or why he'd felt it, he wouldn't have been able to say at the time. But now, in this moment, he knew, or at least had a sneaking suspicion about what was going to happen, not least because of the harshness of the whispered voices that he didn't recognise, the viciousness of the footsteps and plods that they made. And though they were far down, still at the bottom and he had retreated further up, the aura and the sense they gave off was familiar to him. Because after all, he had once almost been forced into setting fire to the place once, himself.

But it was clear that here nobody was forcing anyone to do anything. They were getting pleasure out of this, enjoying it, and he could not just stay there and let them do that. Nor could he rely on an outside force crashing in. He needed to prevent the tragedy himself, once again.

 _The only trouble is, how do I make sure I'm not seen? I can't be seen, I just can't._ He wasn't sure how that would be a possibility, but he had to try. At the least, he had to be a thing of the shadows, so that even if they saw him, they would not see. That was all he could do, he reasoned as he progressed up, hoping to get up to the building before they did-a plausible possibility, given they were a group and lugging things up, but even so. He could not fail. He could not allow himself to be responsible for another set of shattered hearts and destroyed lives. Not this time. Not when one of them was Hinano's child, one of their own.

And then he heard mumbling he had come to recognise, and saw the sweep of a torch, and almost froze. _Oh no. Oh no. Tsuwabuki-kun, what are you doing here?_ He ducked behind a tree and took a moment to catch his breath. Surely the child should be home by now? For a teenager, it was not particularly late to be awake, but it definitely was to be out (in his opinion), especially with it being dark and cold.

"It was around here, wasn't it? I'm sure it was…." The sweep of torch faltered and shone back on its holder, showing that he was befuddled and a bit annoyed. Then he remembered that Tsuwabuki had been digging earlier. He'd snuck out of the forest soon a while after the boy had arrived, to buy supplies-taking a risk, but he had needed something warm to drink-and when he had returned, he had gone. But he did also recall seeing the box of tools on the ground and being surprised, wondering if he should take it somewhere it wouldn't get ruined by the weather, but then deciding not to, as Tsuwabuki wouldn't have been able to find it if he did that. _Stop, stop. You need to think about what to do. He needs to get out safely. You need to do make sure it happens._ So, knowing exactly where Tsuwabuki needed to be headed, he gave himself a head start, and sure enough, Tsuwabuki followed him (though of course, he did not know that he was following). And then another realisation hit him that he could not possibly direct Tsuwabuki to safety without making himself known to him.

 _But, what choice do I have, really?_

He had promised to watch over the children, to keep them safe. That was why he was here, nothing else. Sure, there were memories and chains and love that tied him here, but above all, he was meant to protect them. So he would have to. He sighed, and looked over to the side, steeling himself. And then his heart stopped all over again. From here, he could see the school building, and this meant he could also see the form of a boy climbing up there-and even from here, he recognised Kuroba, for he had done this before, seeking a better star-gazing platform than whatever his alternatives were. _Oh, come on._ Hearing Tsuwabuki's footsteps and mumbling catch up to him, he made a snap decision. One child at a time. That was all he could do.

Swiftly, a plan building up in his mind all the while, he jumped down from the tree, landing expertly on his feet, almost in front of Tsuwabuki. He tried not to wince and hide as the light of the torch illuminated him fully, and spoke before Tsuwabuki could react.

"Tsuwabuki-kun, you need to get out of here." He whispered quietly, hoping the front of calm that he was putting on would calm him. This was not so, as the hand that held the torch shook.

"Wha-how did you know my name? What do you mean? My tools…."

"It's okay, they're just up here. I remember seeing them here earlier-but Tsuwabuki-kun, you need to get out. Please, let me lead you somewhere safe. We need to be quick, I need to get Kuroba-kun too."

" _Kuroba-kun_? What about him?"

He tried not to feel the ticking away of the time too heavily. _He's scared, of course he is._

"He's here, on the school roof, star-gazing. I need to get him away before those others come up and notice him and…do something. I mean, Kuroba-kun reminds me of someone from my class, so I figure he could fight for himself, but still, I cannot….but first, I at least need to get you to a place of safety, until you can leave safely." He told Tsuwabuki.

The boy blinked and stared, utterly stunned. He took a deep breath, in and then out. He was surprised that he hadn't been recognised. He was aware, after all, that the children knew of who he was, what had happened all those years ago. Tsuwabuki was one of them. _It doesn't matter, not now!_ Frustrated, he reached out for Tsuwabuki's other hand, causing him to flinch. The motion shifted the position of the torch beam, which almost blinded him. He stepped slightly to a side, shielding his eyes, ignoring his ever-rattling heart.

"Ah, sorry about that, Mister-Oh!" Tsuwabuki's fiddling with the torch illuminated his face, and he could see the clarity dawning.

"If you saw me earlier, and you know our names, and you know this place….then, are you…..?"

 _Ah, here it is. Finally. Inevitably._

"Yes, I'm Nagisa, from the 3E of thirty years ago."


	72. It's Over Now, Isn't It?

**This chapter...*sigh* I cannot write action scenes to save my life. Still, I hope you like it anyway. And just a reminder that there won't be an update this Sunday, and that it will actually take a while for various reasons, so please don't freak out/get annoyed at the lack of chapters over the coming week or so!**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter. As always, do leave feedback!**

* * *

Gazing at the stars and thinking of nothing in particular, it took a moment for Kuroba to realise that he could hear someone climbing up the building, from the back. Frowning, he eased himself up, and edged his way over, looking around. Whoever it was seemed to be good at this-they were almost practically silent, and if he hadn't sensed them by chance, and if he wasn't now actively on the lookout, he probably would not have noticed them until it was too late. But now he had noticed, so that was fine. He would find them, and either get away swiftly, or confront them.

 _What a bother._ He'd only wanted to spend a couple of hours up here, looking at the stars. It was one of those times when using his telescope in his room, or going to the park near his house, or any of the other places he could go just did not seem to appeal to him. And quite honestly, there was something about the thrill of being at school at night that made the whole star-gazing business completely different. Something he liked. But for now, he had a pursuer, and he needed to shake them.

Cautiously, he clambered over to the other side of the roof, closer to where he was hearing the sounds, and then stopped, straightening and looking around both to try and locate the person, and to get his bearings. _Ah, over there._ The dark was certainly a disadvantage, and he was in no position to get his torch out at the moment, but all the same, he caught a motion and just knew it was the other person. Readjusting his grip, he stepped over to the other end of the building, getting closer with every step-and then all of a sudden the person was there, almost in his face.

"Ah, so you heard me then. That makes things a little easier."

This was not what he had expected to hear. _Not to mention, that voice…._

The light of the moon was enough that Kuroba could see how the person somehow readjusted his hold such that he could reach for a large chain around his neck, and search for an item hanging on it. He noticed the hands linger against a couple of items-what appeared to be a house key and an engagement ring, before alighting on something that was soon revealed to be a mini torch. The person held it up, so that it illuminated both of their faces, and there Kuroba got a whole new shock.

"The 3E _Ghost_?! I mean, Nagisa?!"

So he had only ever seen ages old images of this person, heard his voice from years and years ago, never had any idea of what he was like in the present. But the familiarity of the voice, combined with the face he saw now….there was no doubt, no doubt at all.

"Yes, it's me." His lips curved up in a sad smile. "Nagisa Oishi. Though once it was Nagisa Shiota….I suppose you know that already then, Kuroba-kun?"

"Indeed. And I suppose how it is you already know who I am is a result of lurking in our forest all year. Have you still been there all this time?"

A nod from the older man- though in this scenario, with only the torchlight and the moonlight to illuminate him, he didn't look like he had an age let alone a form- had Kuroba snort.

"In this cold? Seriously? But more to the point-why are you making yourself known now?"

"There wasn't any other way to get you two out safely…."

"Two?" Kuroba knew that what he really should be asking was what the danger was, but this had snagged his interest, all the same..

"Yeah, two. Tsuwabuki-kun was here too…but uh, perhaps we should get down for now?" The man- _Nagisa_ , Kuroba reminded himself with some astonishment, _Nagisa_ \- half gestured at their situation, and Kuroba nodded

"Yes, we should."

They didn't speak as they scrambled quietly down. Once they were on the ground, Kuroba carried on with the questions.

"What's Tsuwabuki doing here, then, and where is he?"

"He left some tools behind when digging earlier today, came to retrieve them. If you're wondering, I sent him over to where the old pool was, where the waterfall cuts off, up top. It's in the other direction, so they shouldn't find him, or even know he's here. For the moment at least, it's safer than sending him off home for now. The same with you, you should go too, Kuroba-kun."

As Nagisa said this, Kuroba noticed how he looked around, kept pacing, his steps silent and movements vigilant. He was prepared for something, prepared to attack, to defend and protect. But what it was, Kuroba wasn't sure. _I need to know._

"No. No, I will stay." He said firmly. "Tell me what the danger is."

"Your opponents are coming up to set fire to the building." Nagisa gestured to the school building, the flowers, all of it.

"Have they got here yet?" Kuroba asked. Nagisa frowned.

"They're dragging things here, and arguing, and they're unfamiliar with the forest…..I'd say by now, they're about halfway here. Kuroba-kun, go to Tsuwabuki-kun, please."

"What, and wait until it all blows over, while you randomly appear and scare them off? Don't be ridiculous. This is my class, not yours. If anything, we should be standing here-"

"I'm trying to protect you." Nagisa cut him off, almost desperate sounding. "You need to go. I'll come for you, I promise."

"How do I know that?" Kuroba challenged. "I've never met you, until today. You've been hiding in the forests all this time, like a vagrant. How do I know you are who you say you are?"

Nagisa sighed. Even at this time, Kuroba could see something sad flit in his eyes. It tugged at him, but he had no time for sympathy. Not here, not now. Not when the campus was about to burn, the place he had spent so many hours in with Izzy, Hana and the rest of them, working and learning and playing and planning and fighting and all sorts. The place which housed their hopes and aspirations, the place where Ending the End Class had been brought to life, where Hana's two wishes still hung from the ceiling in the form of two thousand origami birds.

"I don't know, how to prove it. But you recognised me, didn't you? By sight and sound. And…..I've encountered this, once before. An attempted burning."

"Who?" Kuroba was cautious.

"Me. Well, my mother, technically. But she wanted it to be me who committed the action. But I didn't."

There was a story in that somewhere, something he recognised from things implied in the telling of the stories he had heard. Things that he had not asked about, because they went beyond the bounds of the history he had the right to.

"So you feel as though you know the signs." He states instead. Nagisa looked at him, and nodded.

"And so you want me to go."

When Nagisa nodded again at this, Kuroba shook his head firmly, stopping whatever objection the other was about to come out with.

"I'll go- but only to retrieve Tsuwabuki. We should still fight-but alongside you, if you don't want us to do it alone. "

"I…well, I mean….." All manner of different emotions flickered on Nagisa's face and eventually, they settled into a sort of resignation, and he sighed. "I suppose I can't argue with that. To find Tsuwabuki-kun , you nee-"

"It's okay, I know the place you mentioned."

"Eh? You do."

"Yes, I am sure." All through the conversation, a part of his mind had been piecing the relevant information together, and he was fairly sure he had the answer.

"Ah." Nagisa thought about this for a second, then shook his head. "Go, then, Be quick. Be safe."

"If you've really been watching over us this year, you should give us more credit than that. Don't worry."

Then, before Nagisa could say anything at all, he rushed off.

 **…**

Watching Kuroba go, Nagisa sighed. He would much rather have let him go knowing the boy would stay, leaving things up to him. But in the end, he supposed Kuroba had been right. After all, once his own class had had the weight of the world placed on them with little regard, and told to just deal with it. And then, afterwards, after they had done that and then some-after they had made the situation their own-those who had put them in the mess had tried to muscle in and dismiss them like none of it had mattered. Nagisa knew how that felt, understood the need to fight one's own battles. He did not want to do to this class what had almost been done to them. But at the same time, he needed to look after them. He could not break another promise, another heart. He could not.

So he made his way around to the front, and fiddled with his neck chain. He left the torch as it was, looking for a different item. When he found it, he fiddled with it a moment, and when he was satisfied, he let it hang again, and settled himself in a clear position. _Now, to wait._ The half-baked plan that he had come up with while taking Tsuwabuki to safety at the old pool was starting to produce results. This heartened him-though he would have been much happier if there had been no need for this in the first place. _But now, I wait._

Some moments passed, and no noises apart from the normal ones of the night could be heard, and he saw nobody. Then, all of a sudden, he sensed two people coming up-but they were not the malicious ones who had been struggling up earlier. He knew these voices. And when they came into view, his heart stopped, for what felt like the millionth time tonight.

"H-Hiro-Chan? Y-Yukiyama-kun?"

The two teenagers stared at him for a long, long moment. Hiro's hands flew to her mouth, but she said nothing. Yukiyama, however, did.

"Nagisa. Nagisa Shiota. "Yukiyama looked grim and a little… _regretful? What for?_

"Oishi." Nagisa corrected before he could help himself. "But yes, it's me."

 _Am I going to have to start getting used to introducing myself now? I suppose that must be so….but one thing at a time. Figure this out one thing at a time…._

"You're out in the open…I'm sorry about that."

Nagisa shook his head. He had an inkling of what Yukiyama's current line of thinking was, but could not claim to understand it fully.

"That's fine but….." he cut off as finally, they appeared. Six of them. A girl who seemed to favour bright red lipstick led the way with a torch, and stopped in her tracks, halting them all. Nagisa recognised her from some things he had overheard from the children over the year. This was Komori, a second year student. Judging by the way two edged closer to her, they were also second years-her friends.

Yukiyama and Hiro turned to look at them too. For a moment, nobody said anything, and then a boy strode forward and up into their faces.

"What are you doing here?!" The boy spat out. "You're going to mess everything up!"

"What's so important for you to do here in the dead of night, then, Maeda?" Yukiyama asked, stepping forward and subtly edging Hiro behind him. Nagisa took a few steps forward himself, but none of the six seemed to notice him.

 _Ah. So the other third-year girl would be Otsuka-san, and that other boy with the bag would be….._

"Tch, don't answer them, just get on with it!" Otsuka ordered. "It makes it easier for us, doesn't it, if they're here."

"Ah, that's true. Now they can't deny not knowing about it, can they? Ach, Fujimura-sempai, hurry up and give us the stuff! I want to see the idiots' building go up in flames!"

"Flames, what do yo-"Yukiyama started and stopped.

"I don't think so." In a few fluid moves, Nagisa had approached Fujimura and taken his bag, leaving the boy blinking and stuttering, grasping at air.

"Wher-where? Who? What?" Looking up at Nagisa, he tried to grab the bag back, but he quickly stepped out of reach. Komori also tried to make a grab, but he just held the bag up so she could not reach.

"Who the hell are you? Where did you even come from?" Maeda cried out.

"I could ask you the same. " Nagisa said levelly. "Who are you that you're deliberately trying to set fire to this building?"

"Is that really any of your business, hobo?" Otsuka spat. Nagisa raised an eyebrow at the insult, but did not react. This incensed Otsuka, who turned and barked orders.

"Fujimura, stop staring and get the stuff, for god's sake! Rin, you help him and then start with the flowers here or something-like we planned. And Komori, Yukizome, Ibara, get those two and grab something off of them that we can chuck here afterwards."

The three girls zoned straight into Yukiyama and Hiro, and both fought back straight away. Hiro managed to topple one of the girls using a well-placed leg, but Komori in particular seemed the petty, hair-pulling type. Nagisa tried to help, but he was busy trying to fend off the two boys. They certainly didn't have any particular technique, but youth and malice was on their side, and for a moment, Nagisa did let go of the bag for a moment, and by the time he had got a hold of it again, Maeda had grabbed three items-a lighter, a book of matches, and a can of some sort. The can, he tossed over Nagisa's head, and he quickly realised that Fujimura was behind him, so he whipped around just in time to see Fujimura raise the can, ready to hit him on the head with it. Nagisa jumped back, but also swung out, causing Fujimura to double over.

"You're….going….to get…..into…so much trouble for this…" Fujimura wheezed as he fought for balance, sitting on the ground with a thump. Nagisa looked down at him and shook his head ruefully.

"No. We won't." he said simply. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Eh, who cares about you, whoever the hell you are? It's not going to make a difference, is it? Once we're done here, they'll get done for arson, too. We can claim we got wind of their plans and tried to stop them, getting attacked for our troubles by some street guy they'd hired to help them or something-right, Miki?"

Maeda grinned as he took a match out of the book of matches and lit it with the lighter.

"Yeah, sure."

Nagisa noticed Otsuka was just standing there, not doing anything. He supposed that she was trying to keep her hands clean, and suspected that Hasegawa was much the same too. But Hasegawa had done better by deciding to stay away and trust the others to carry out the plan, however they had formulated it. _There's another one of them too, right? Otonashi-kun or something? I wonder why he isn't amongst them tonight?_ Nagisa was prevented from pondering on this as Maeda continued his triumphant little speech with the match in his hand.

"I could just walk over there and drop this in the flowers, and you would not be able to do anything about it. At all."

For a moment, the flurry stopped, and they all stared at the flame dancing in the darkness. _Be careful. Be very careful._

"In which case, you underestimate us. But you've been doing that all along, haven't you?"

Kuroba arrived at that point, Tsuwabuki behind him, looking incredulous. All eyes whipped towards them.

"Oh brilliant, more of them! Your grave is being dug as we speak, you know? Once we've quashed you, this building is burning forever, and you're going to be the ones who'll get blamed for it! All of you! It's going to be quite the blow to your precious project!"

"You'd risk going to prison, just to prevent Ending the End Class from succeeding?" Kuroba asked incredulously as he walked straight over to Maeda.

"Kuroba-kun, don't!"

"It's okay, Nagisa. I've got this." When Kuroba reached Maeda, he lunged, somehow avoiding the match in his hand, and grabbed the lighter and the other matchbook, sticking them in his pocket. He then went over to Nagisa, and held his hand out for the bag.

"Give me that." When he did, Kuroba took it straight over to Tsuwabuki.

"Hold this tight, keep out of the fighting." Kuroba ordered him, before scanning the situation, and heading to assist Yukiyama and Hiro, as the girl who'd been toppled had recovered enough to try and fight again. Clearly too stunned to respond, Tsuwabuki nodded and grabbed the bag like his life depended on it, also balancing his tool box. Nagisa gave him a grateful smile, and then went back to

"We aren't the ones who'll be going into prison!" Otsuka proclaimed. "Haven't you been listening?!"

"It'll be them. And you, of course." Maeda laughed, waving the match around. "I don't know who the hell you are, but whatever you think, there's no way that the police are going to believe you, a vagrant no-good, against us honour students."

"We're here too, you know! We can back him up!" Tsuwabuki protested.

"Are you stupid? You're 3E! Nobody is going to believe you, you're not _meant_ to be believed."

"That's not going to hold up in normal circles." Kuroba informed them as he pulled Komori's arms behind her back and held her there, spitting and kicking and attempting to bite.

"We'll see about that!" Otsuka lunged at Kuroba, meaning to disarm him and free Komori, but he was able to see it coming and swung around, still holding her, half-dragging her and tripping up Otsuka as a result. Both Maeda and Fujimura startled at this, but Fujimura was still more or less incapacitated, and Maeda was hampered by the flame he was holding, which he continued to hold up, knowing it held them all in thrall. _I need to put that out, somehow. I need to…..what do I do? Think…think, for crying out loud!_

Nagisa assessed the situation as Maeda walked slowly forwards, towards Tsuwabuki and the flower-beds.

"Y-you can't, not the flowers!" Tsuwabuki squawked.

"How do you know it's the flowers I wanna burn? What if it's you, instead?"

"Fucking hell, I knew you were all puffed up with your arrogance, but when did you all become psychopaths." Yukiyama remarked, whipping his head around at the comment.

One of the two remaining girls used the opportunity to lunge at him and knock him over, which made Hiro angry, wading in and attacking like there was no tomorrow. With some well-placed but clearly enraged tactics, she managed to floor the girl she had floored again, but the other proved malicious enough to be a task for the two of them anyway. It was the opportunity Nagisa needed, and so he disappeared back into the darkness. _I won't take long,_ he promised as he made the quick circle _._

"Hey! Nagisa, where are you going?" Kuroba asked.

"He went? Where did he go?"

"Probably doesn't want to get arrested, decided that it wasn't worth going down with all of you."

"He wouldn't do that!" Yukiyama managed to say. "Chihiro, step aside, I can handle this." He added in the same breath.

"You're going down anyway, so why so concerned. Once I drop this…"

Maeda, standing right in front of the flowers, held out his hand once again and lifted one finger from around the match. And then the next one…and then, Nagisa snuck up behind him, and blew the flame out.

"Eh?" Maeda dropped the now-useless match and turned around to stare at Nagisa, who just regarded him serenely.

"Are you…are you a ghost? How did you even…you just…"

Nagisa did not answer, and just stared Maeda down. A moment passed, and then Maeda's eyes rolled in his head, and he wobbled. Nagisa caught him so he didn't hit his head on the ground, but was not gentle when putting him down. Then, he stepped back around to the front, and crossed over to Yukiyama and Hiro. The girl they were still struggling with stopped as soon as she met Nagisa's eyes, and scrambled over to her friend, and they clutched each other.

"What are you two bloody idiots doing?!" Komori snarled at them. "Are you really…..?"

"I wouldn't doubt him, if I were you. He has killed, you know." Kuroba told Komori with a practised casualness, as if informing her that it was currently night time.

Nagisa froze at that for a moment, rooted by his mistakes. _I have, I have killed. But i…_ in any case, it seemed to have the desired effect on Komori, for she went from angry to petrified in moments, and said no more.

"Give me those!" Otsuka, clearly annoyed, got back up from where she had been sulking and tried to make her way to Tsuwabuki. Quickly, Nagisa tried to block her path.

"I can still end this, you know! I can still end this! And you don't have any proof to suggest otherwise!"

"Actually…erm…" Tsuwabuki piped up hesitantly, but was interrupted by a bright flashlight and a new set of footsteps and voices.

"Otsuka-san, Maeda-kun, Fujimura-kun! Stop whatever you are doing!"

"Nagisa, are you there? Have you seen anyone?!"

"Whoever's there, show yourself!"

"You guys aren't going to get away with this! We know what you planned, all of it!"

A few moments later, Isogai, Maehara, Rio, Hana and Asami appeared.

"Hana, what the hell are you doing here?" Kuroba asked.

"Ju-kun!" Hana exclaimed. "We know what happened-Asami found out about it and told me, and then I got help."

"How did you find out about it?" Otsuka spat. "And what….what on…who?"

"It doesn't matter what we found out, or how, but the point is that we know everything now. And you can't deny it." Asami hotly informed them.

"It's still…your word….against us…"

"Not just that." Nagisa reached for the chain around his neck, and quickly held up the mini-recorder he had turned on earlier. "We have concrete proof, too. Thanks for letting me borrow this, Tsuwabuki-kun. "

"I…ah, sure." Tsuwabuki awkwardly walked forward and handed Fujimura's bag to Isogai. Nagisa stopped the recording, turned off the recorder and also went over. After a long, long moment, he walked over to Isogai, and held it out, not saying a word, and not meeting his eyes.

"Ah…so you were here all along…." Was all that Isogai said.

"Mhm…."

Before anyone could react to anything, Tada came tearing up, with a woman following close behind-Nagisa guessed her to be Tsukuda's aunt-and he zoned straight onto Hiro, who was helping Yukiyama dust down his clothes.

"Hiro! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Is everything okay?" he signed rapidly as he spoke, going to her and checking for himself. Hiro nodded and smiled to reassure her brother, and then spoke for the first time since she arrived, her eyes seeking out Nagisa as she did so.

"It's all over now, isn't it?


	73. Reveals and Revelations

**And here you have it, the next chapter, finally here! I'm afraid I'm going back to updates being between 5-10 days now, but hopefully you don't mind that. In any case, there will be separate stories I'll be publishing between updates of this (which is part of the reason I'm scaling back the update speed of this story now...oops), so there are those to look forward to, though some of my next upcoming other oneshots are for the Dangan Ronpa fandom...but whatever. I also apologise for the chapter titles recently...I've been having more trouble coming up with good ones so yeah, they've ended up kinda lame. But anyway, I hope you will enjoy this chapter, and please do leave feedback!**

* * *

Everything seemed a bit of a blur to Tada, as Hiro's words seemed to signal something, and the adults around (not counting Nagisa-he knew instantly that it was Nagisa, yet he could barely understand it) busied themselves with helping up Otsuka, Maeda and the others who had apparently come up with the intention of setting fire to their building, just to frame them for it. That was something else that he could not wrap his head around, and so, not knowing what else to do, he went over to help them.

"What are you even doing?" Asami sputtered at him as he held out his hand to one of the other second year girls. "Why would you help them when they….?"

"They're still your classmates, aren't they?" Tada pointed out, as he pulled the girl up. She glared suspiciously at him, and scuttled over to join her friend as they started walking down, closely watched by Isogai, Rio, Atsuko and Maehara. Asami puffed.

"But still…..I don't…." Tada thought of how Asami had been on the phone when she'd called him to tell him about what was happening, how full of fire and panic she had been, and how righteous and confident she'd been about the fact that it was Otsuka and the others who were in the wrong. It reminded him a lot of the previous (and only other) time that she had called him. So he just sighed and shook his head.

"It doesn't really matter, Asami-Chan."

"Yeah, yeah, he's right!" Hana chimed in. "What matters is that it's all over now."

"Hmmmm." Asami was still clearly sceptical, but did not say anything more.

Most of the way down was silent after that, apart from a few angry mutters, and Rio and Atsuko discussing things in a low voice.

Once they were down, Maeda and Fujimura decided to try and make a run for it, but Maehara swiftly caught them by the arm.

"Not so fast, boys."

"T-this is assault! We could get you done for assault! Not just you, but them, too!" Maeda spat, making a sweeping gesture.

"We should call the police on you, all of you!" Fujimura indignantly added.

"Yes, but then you wouldn't look too good either now, would you? Are you _sure_ you'd want to do that?" Kuroba icily pointed out.

"I…ah…..erm…" Otsuka spluttered a moment, but it was Komori who spoke up.

"Yeah, well, it is not as if you have any proof!"

"You mean apart from the recording?" Rio asked. "Speaking of which, Yuu, give that to me. We'll keep it safe. And that bag, too, actually."

"Sure!"

"But that doesn't tell you anything." Fujimura said. "It could easily be taken out of context, or it could have been edited. There's no way-"

"Oh, stop lying! We know, we all _know_ , okay?!"

Everyone turned to stare at Asami.

"Stop trying to pretend you are all-important and above these things. You were ready to become criminals, just to prove a petty point! We know exactly what you were aiming to do, there's physical evidence, and plus, Otonashi-kun called me and told me _all_ of it, all your plans and how you decided it, everything! "

 _Wait, what?_

" _Otonashi_ spilled his guts? That willing dweeb?" Otsuka said in disbelief. "Why the-"

"Seriously, that's how you found out? Otonashi, of all people?" Kuroba was disbelieving. "Who would have thought?"

"Tch, President's not going to be pleased by that….."

 _Well, that explains how Asami-Chan found out and all._

"Okay, just stop for now!" Atsuko commanded. When they were quiet, she continued in a calmer voice.

"I don't have a full picture of the situation, but nobody was hurt-seriously, that is-and the crime was stopped before it was committed. Now, Nakamura-san and I will escort the would-be offending parties home, and then tomorrow, when it is light, we will decide what to do with you. At the very least, a meeting will have to be set up with your school, so that some consequences can be meted out there. I don't think we will need police intervention at this stage."

"I have a feeling some of you probably received some pretty hard blows, so if you need it, I can provide some painkillers and the like." Isogai added, kind and earnest. Looking around at Maeda and the others, they all shrunk and muttered that they would be fine.

After a few more moments of arranging meet-ups with Tada, Isogai and Maehara, and getting the addresses of those that they were going to escort, Rio and Atsuko soon left with Otsuka, Maeda and the others, leaving Tada, Tsuwabuki, Hiro, Yukiyama, Kuroba, Hana and Asami with Isogai and Maehara.

"Oi, Nagisa! Don't disappear now!" Maehara called. _Ah, of course. How did I forget, even momentarily._ Tada took in the slight figure of the man, his face so clearly the same one he had seen beaming out of his mother's albums for all his life, never even having questioned its presence for most of his life. Even his hair was in the same way, when according to what he had been told, Nagisa had cut his hair after graduating. It was like a piece of the past had stepped up into the present. And that piece of the past looked pretty lost, standing there with them.

"So you really have been watching over them this year, huh?" Isogai said eventually, regarding him.

"How could I not?" Nagisa replied, wistful. "Especially…..Tada-kun, Hiro-Chan. I'm sorry about Hinano-san. And your father."

Tada just nodded, not sure what he could say to him. Hiro regarded Nagisa with an odd look, and for a moment seemed as if she was going to ask something, but then in the end, she, too, remained silent. But it was clear she did have something to say, even so.

"Anyway, you can hardly slink back to your forest dwellings now." Kuroba told him. "You witnessed what was happening, tried to keep Tsuwabuki and I safe when we almost got mixed up in it, and made the recording. You're a key witness."

Under the streetlights, Nagisa blanched visibly.

"Not in a court sense. You heard Rio and Takao-san, right?" Maehara hurriedly said. "But you still need to stay, at least to get your voice in, and to help the kids."

"To help…yeah." Nagisa shrugged, looking like he had a heavy weight pressing on him as he did so. "Yeah."

"There we go then. Anyway, Yuuma's house is ready to bust a gut, he's got so many people running around, so you'll come with me. My house is empty for the next few days, so that'll be fine, won't it."

Nagisa just nodded at that, and Maehara slung an arm around his shoulder, making him flail.

"My house is _not_ going to 'bust a gut', but yes, it's probably best if you go with Hiroto….and, stay there?" the please was unsaid, but didn't need to be said. Nagisa nodded.

"Sure….and, I'm sorry. I…I…."

"No, no, you don't need to…." Isogai ran a hand through his hair, closed his eyes and let out a breath.

"Uh…..I'm missing a lot of context here, aren't I?" Asami spoke up after a few moments after just gawping at them, and this broke the tension, making them laugh, or at least chuckle.

"Yes, you are." Yukiyama deadpanned.

"But that's okay though, I can explain it to you when we get home!" Hana said cheerfully. Then, she looked around at everyone else.

"I can, right?" she asked. They all exchanged looks for a moment.

"It's all over now, anyway." Tada said, echoing the words Hiro had said earlier. "Pretty much, anyway. So it should be."

"So long as we don't spread it around to all and sundry." Kuroba remarked. Asami looked alarmed at this.

"It's not like that, Asami-Chan!" Hana said. "Don't worry."

"But still…"

"Sure, go for it."

They all turned to Isogai at this. He nodded reassuringly, a smile on his very tired face.

"It's' fine for you to explain. But first, let's go home."

 **…**

Exhausted, Isogai was relieved to finally get into bed. But at the same time, he knew he wasn't going to be able to get to sleep for a while.

"Mari?"

"Hmmm?" she asked sleepily, her eyes still closed. He sighed for a moment, then shored up his courage. The children had been right. It was over now. And they all knew, so why shouldn't Mari?

"I…..can I tell you something?"

"About today? You're shattered, I can wait until the morning."

"Hmm…..but there are other things, too. "

At this Mari's eyes opened, and she regarded him with concern, unwaveringly.

"Are you alright, Yuuma?"

"I'm fine. It's not anything like that." He smiled at her. "It's just something I need to tell you….and it might take a while."

Some of the concern dimmed away from her eyes, but the curiosity remained. She held his gaze levelly for a moment, and then spoke.

"Does it start from thirty years ago?"

"I….what? How did you….?" Isogai spluttered, and this got a smile out of Mari. She put a hand on his cheek and continued to hold his gaze.

"I've built this life with you, seen how close you are to your friends from that class, and I know what 3E means to you in general. I know that's why you help those children year after year. I know that there's something extra about that class that made you what you are today, but I've never known what it was. But that didn't matter, because I know _you_ , Yuuma. "

"Mari…"

"So anyway," Mari continued on. "I wouldn't have questioned it, ever, even if my own curiosity's been chafing at me for however long it's been since we met….but anyway. Whatever you want and have to say now, I'm listening."

So, after taking another deep breath, Isogai told her what he'd been wanting to tell her for the longest time. Everything.

 **…**

After the case had been made, a silence fell over the office, and they waited. Tada couldn't remember an instance during his time at this school where it had been quite so full-himself, his whole class, Hasegawa and the other Virtuosos. Isogai and Atsuko, along with Nagisa. And then of course Principal Okikura, deep in thought at his desk. They made quite the crowd.

And yet, it was so, so quiet, as Okikura thought and they all waited, exchanging looks with each other and fidgeting. With the other two adults, Nagisa seemed ultra-vigilant, seeming to want to disappear and yet drinking in the look of all of them as if trying to sear them into his memory, especially Tada. Next to him, Tsukuda reached for his hand and gripped it. Otonashi stood isolated from all of them, looking at the carpet, shoulders hunched. And they all waited.

Then, Okikura cleared his throat.

"Well then. The game really is up."

"Principa-"

Okikura held up a hand to silence Hasegawa's protest.

"It is up. It would be futile to think otherwise. Every effort has been met head on by 3E, and it would be pig-headed to do any more, I think."

There was a weary boredom to Okikura's voice that suggested that he also did not _want_ to do anymore, could not be bothered to do so. All of a sudden, he did not seem so slimy. Tada still didn't like him though, and suspected he never would.

"So fine. We shall end this. And I imagine it is time for the school to come to an end too. So that shall happen too."

It took a moment for that to sink in, but when it did, they were all stunned, and reacted accordingly.

"The entire school? Stopping 3E is enough!"

"That's rather….."

"Seriously?!"

"This is an awkward time to do it, Principal. Where will everyone go on such short notice?"

"What of our entrance exams?!" Hasegawa demanded.

"Please, please." Okikura sighed heavily. "I will hardly be kicking you all out right now. Things will end when this school year ends. And as for your exams and other things, all arrangements will be made. I will possibly be wanting to talk to you two, regarding arrangements." He added, directing this last sentence at Isogai and Atsuko, who both nodded.

"But why though? This debacle aside, Kunugigaoka is a good school. It has served well. And does this include the high school?!" Hasegawa demanded, still not accepting. Okikura raised a condescending eyebrow.

"Hasegawa-kun, if some of the actions you took were revealed, I suspect that would be enough to have people demand the shut-down of the school. Then there's the attention Ending the End Class has been getting itself, anyway. Time to cut our losses and run, don't you say?"

"In any case, the school had a good, long life anyway, didn't it?" Tada found himself adding, wanting to be kind for some odd reason-Hasegawa did, in his own way, look particularly devastated.

"Perhaps then, it's time to lay things to rest. No sense in powering on beyond your time when there's nothing left. It's…..better, like that."

Another silence as they all stared at him, and Tada went hot. Hasegawa didn't look particularly consoled by what he had just said, and Okikura's mechanical nodding seemed like he had no clue.

"Well then, that is settled." Okikura concluded. "I will be officially announcing the closure of the school, as well as the arrangements that will be put into place for the students during a special assembly on the first week back, most likely on the Friday. I will also inform Hasegawa-kun, Otsuka-san and the three of you 3E representatives of some of these things in advance. In the meantime though, try to keep this as much to yourselves as possible, please. No use in creating a stir in the other main campus students unless absolutely necessary. Understood?"

"Yes, Principal Okikura." All the students said. Okikura nodded at them.

"Good. In which case, you may see yourselves out."

 **…**

There was a sense of jubilation as they left the room, and Hidaka felt it too. He found it somewhat strange though, that he'd feel that way, even after all this time. Part of him was still the discontented boy who didn't really understand what he had. But he had still come a long, long way from that, and so he was proud and happy, and had no problem with showing it-3E was _his_ class now after all. Though it had been awkward to be around Hasegawa and the others, to say the least. _At least it's over though, all over._

In front, Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko were talking to Atsuko, no doubt pulling together final little details, just to be sure. The rest of them mostly discussed their success, the possible celebration of said success, or just what they were going to do now they were leaving the building. Nagisa, who had been hurriedly introduced to them as they entered the building, had long left with Isogai. Hidaka had the strong sense that having been around so many people had been overwhelming for the mysterious man, which made a certain sense. He also recognised the parallels between him and Hana's brother.

"I'd wait until it actually gets announced in that assembly he mentioned to go all-out, I think." Kuroba was saying.

"Well, sure, of course. But I think this in itself is a big thing." Kaori pointed out in response to this.

"And at this point, it's assured." Fuyumi added. "Our success, that is to say."

"Yeah, exactly!" Koujiro burst in cheerfully.

"We can still celebrate a _little_ bit though." Hana pointed out. "That's not a big deal."

"Nah, course it's not, Li'l Aoshima-Chan." Izzy grinned.

And so it went. For some reason, Hidaka found himself walking in step with Kinomoto and Tsuwabuki, with Haru and Hirigi in front of them and Ayako and Ruko behind them, all as their own group, half listening and nodding along to their conversation, and half listening to what was going on around him. It was a sad habit he could not break, trying to hear the interesting things. The main difference was what he was doing with the information.

"Say, Hidaka-kun, are you free now?"

"Huh?" Hidaka startled, and it took him a moment to properly focus on Haru's friendly smile and her question.

"A-ah, y-yeah, I guess. Why?"

"We're going to my house to make something together and eat it and just hang out."

"Yeah, it'll be chilled. Though I'll probably do washing up and fetching and whatever, because I cannot cook to save my life." Ayako laughed and pulled a joking face.

"Ah, that's fine, that's fine. As long as we do our bit, it'll be fun, right, Ichinose-san?"

"Exactly right, Kinomoto-kun!" Haru beamed. "So, how about it, Hidaka-kun?"

"Ah….if y-y-you don't mind, t-then sure. I-I'd like that!" Hidaka smiled.

"Brilliant!" Ruko said ecstatically, grabbing Hidaka in a headlock that made him stumble for a moment. Spluttering and laughing, he extracted himself and smoothed down his clothes, and then thought of something.

"Ah, c-can we a-ask o-o-one more p-person along, Ichinose-san?"

"That works for me. I've got the space, and the more the merrier, right?" Haru nodded. "But may I ask why?"

"Yeah, that's strange of you to ask, Hidaka-kun." Hirigi put in.

"Ah….." Hidaka turned to see behind him, making sure that the train of thought that had been started was still going in the right place. Sure enough, Otonashi was lagging far, far behind, and on his own to boot. Hasegawa, Otsuka, Maeda and Fujimura had all strode on ahead when they had left the office, looking like their feet had been fuelled by anger and humiliation. They had left Otonashi behind, and Hidaka knew exactly why-because he was just like him.

The situations were different though. Hidaka was well aware that when he had been betraying, it had been an active, planned process, and one which put him in the wrong. From the sounds of things, Otonashi's betrayal had been almost spur of the moment, even if it had spilled over from pent-up desperation, and had been in an attempt to make things _right_ instead. But they had both had to suffer for it, they both lost part of what they were, a coveted status. Their lives, shaken up. At least for Hidaka there had been a shaky base, something tangible that he could actively fix, and had indeed eventually done so. Otonashi had been one of the virtuosos-one of the people who had recruited Hidaka to carry out his own betrayal, as it were-, so the fall was a much harder, longer one. And now as a result he was utterly adrift, and utterly alone. Sure, just as the pain he'd gone through after being found out had been of his own making, such too was Otonashi's. But in this case, Hidaka was not so sure that this punishment fully fitted the crime. After all, it was not _exactly_ the same. So he pulled together the little bits of courage he knew he had, and tried to get past how awkward this was going to be, and called out to him.

"O-Otonashi-kun!"

Otonashi startled, and he looked up rapidly, his gaze darting around everywhere before locating Hidaka. His forehead creasing, he sped up his walk to be closer to them, though it still could not be said he had joined them.

"What's the matter?"

"D-do you w-want to c-come e-eat with us?" Hidaka asked, blurting out the question in one quick stream. _I hope this is something else that I've done right…._

Otonashi stared at them as if they'd all turned bright purple with feathers, so Kinomoto intervened quickly.

"We're going to go to Ichinose-san's place and make ourselves some lunch." Kinomoto said. "A cookout, I guess. If you'd like to accept Hidaka-kun's invitation, then do join us."

"I'm fine with this, really. I don't mind at all, it's no trouble." Haru anticipated the question Otonashi seemed about to ask, and she smiled welcomingly. He regarded her with some trepidation, and then quietly scanned the others and making his own judgements on how they seemed to be looking at him.

"I, well…."

"Aw go on, you have drawn the short straw in all this, after all." Ruko nonchalantly drawled.

"Exactly, it's no big deal!" Ayako chirped. "We may have been on opposing sides before and all, but I don't think that's the case anymore, is it? Might as well initiate you into our ways…."

"Ayako-Chan, I think you're going to scare him off." Hirigi deadpanned.

At this, Otonashi chuckled slightly, some of the tension easing, and he shook his head in amazement as he gave his answer.

"I'm not so sure about being 'initiated'….but alright. I'll join you all."


	74. The Price of Winning

Hasegawa was supposed to be studying, but he could not concentrate. Not properly, as he was supposed to. He just found himself staring at the same page for long stretches of time without even seeing anything, picking up his pen and forgetting how to write.

 _Because I lost….._

How, exactly, had he let that happen? He should have nipped things in the bud much earlier on. He should have stopped them earlier. There were so many things he should and should not have done, but in the end he'd done (and not done) what he had, and now it was all over. And it was embarrassing to think of it. Because he never failed, not like this. Not on something that was a matter of family, too. He hated knowing that he was the one responsible for making sure a family tradition would not go on.

 _Still, Misao is probably pleased._ The thought make him snicker, despite himself. If the school wasn't around, there were less arguments to make against her going overseas for middle school. And it was not as if his parents really knew, not yet. It was just Ichiro who knew anything, and even he hadn't seemed particularly outraged-but he had been disappointed, and had said as much, reminding him that he-and all of them- were lucky that their actions weren't going to get stronger consequences, as that would have been even worse. Not to mention how he'd just rubbed salt in the wound by pointing out the practical issues with the plan he had come out with- _I should have thought of that, of the risks to them, given that it was a forest. They were carrying out my orders, after all._

 _There should have been something else, right? A better plan, one that would be more effective. Still, how could have I forseen that many people coming up there through sheer coincidence? Not to mention that man….._ Hasegawa still didn't know who that odd blue haired person was, exactly, nor why he should be trusted. It was one thing Hidaka had never mentioned, during that short time- _another failed endeavour_ -and from seeing him during the meeting, there was an indication that he hadn't really known anyway. He wasn't sure what to make of that, but to be sure, the entire mess was frustrating, and humiliating, too. _I should be grateful that's all that I am right now, but still…._

"Takeru-Onii-Sama?"

"What is it, Yui?"

"Play with us?" his youngest sister asked, looking at him pleadingly.

"Have you done your homework?" he asked.

"Yup! Both of us have-me and Misao-nee, that is!" Yui announced earnestly. "Manabu's still doing his, but Nana-Onee-Sama is helping him."

"I see." Hasegawa considered, and then got up. It was not as if his own studies were helping to distract him from his own pity. Perhaps playing with his sisters would. So he allowed Yui to enthusiastically grab his hand and drag him to her bedroom, where she and Misao had set up a board game, but also some dolls, making it unclear what, exactly, they were doing. It wasn't any clearer when they both tried explaining, but he pretended it was and just sort of went along with it, and soon enough found himself having some sort of fun. Not nearly to the level Misao and Yui were, but then again, he wasn't a little girl, so that explained it.

"Takeru-Onii-Sama?" Misao tugged at his sleeve at one point, looking at him with a serious face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know, with Ending the End Class…" When Hasegawa gave her a look, Misao had the grace to look a little abashed.

"Misao overheard you on the phone, then with Ichiro-Onii-Sama." Misao explained.

"I see….but don't worry about it, Misao. I'm fine, really."

"Hmmm….." Misao turned her attention back to the game that was being played, and for a little while longer, did not say anything, but later on, she surprised him once again.

"Misao thinks you're lying, Takeru-Onii-Cha-I mean, Onii-sama."

"Misao."

"You are! And you always said that lying is bad, unless it's for a good reason. "

"I can promise you that I am not lying, Misao."

"Then you don't care that I won't get to attend Kunugigaoka next year?"

This, Hasegawa could not respond to, and Misao nodded sagely, looking pleased at having caught him out. Hasegawa sighed, and searched for something to say that would put this to rest.

"Are you going to miss Misao, if she goes away? Misao'll come back for holidays and stuff, you know that, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah….." Hasegawa took a moment to catch up to what was going on.

"And wouldn't it be worse, if the same stuff couldn't keep happening, because one of us was gone?" Misao continued.

Hasegawa was tempted to point out that her argument didn't fully follow, that there was a big gap that made it seem like her two statements did not fit together, that they did not make much sense when following on from each other. But that would be pedantic, because it made perfect sense to him. And though he was still smarting, and probably would for a long time, he also knew that his wise little sister was utterly correct. So he simply nodded and smiled at her, and then threw himself into the game.

 **…**

Sitting outside, nursing the mug of hot chocolate, Asami frowned as Hana happily babbled, explaining everything. _Kunugigaoka, closing. I didn't want that. Did I?_ She might not have been wanting this right from the start, it may have taken so much to get her to finally open her eyes and see everything that had been wrong with the 3E system, with the school in general. But she had always, always held onto the fact that that was not all that there had been to the school. Then Otonashi had called her so unexpectedly and that, too…..a good school did not result in people who could think like that, who would be prepared to take that kind of step.

 _A good school would not have inflicted such ordeals on Kei._ Asami took a sideways glance at her brother, sitting on the step on Hana's other side, carefully sipping at his own hot chocolate, somehow managing to be utterly attentive to what Hana was saying while mostly just looking around and absorbing the look of their own back garden. He was becoming more substantial, stronger, with each and every day. The shake-up that 3E had inflicted on the school system had been a good one, for sure, no matter the turmoil she felt. Seeing Kei here was proof of that.

"Wait, the school will be sold on to you?!" Asami asked, trying to focus back on what Hana was saying.

"Well…..yeah, but also no, not really. On paper, it'll be the adults-particularly Ju-kun and Ii-kun's dad, and Gakushuu-san too, because they're going to put in extra money, plus there's the benefit of having such names behind us…..something along those lines." Hana scrunched up her face at this and Asami bit down the urge to laugh.

"In any case, as far as I know, I don't think it's being sold onto us so much as we're inheriting all of it. All of us, the entire class. And then we can start anew."

"Meaning….?"

"A new school."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"A new school. We'll set up a new school. "

"But…..how….that's surely not….even a whole class of you can't possibly do that! That's crazy talk."

"Asami, that's why we've got Isogai-san and everyone!" the way Hana said it made it seem like Asami was the dense one, and it made her bristle. She'd been having that feeling a lot over the year. _And for good reason too, I suppose._ Either way, she was glad there was one term left.

"Yes, well…." Asami huffed, and then gulped down some of her drink. "That's going to take a lot of time and effort though, anyway. You sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure. I want to re-open the museum, too, actually." Hana asked.

"The one you made for the festival?"

Hana nodded.

"Bigger, maybe at a different location, and with some additions, like the real story of the 3E Tada-kun's mother was in with Isogai-san and the rest…..assuming Karasuma-san can help us get the clearance to actually do that. Otherwise I guess just a bigger version. Or something. That's what I'm going to do anyway-Ii-kun and Ju-kun will help me, as well."

Asami stifled a smile at the way in which Hana's voice changed when saying the names of her two closest friends. She liked hearing that, a lot.

"Do you think that they'll get permission? To publicly talk about all that stuff?" Asami still didn't know the half of it- just the basics, and some of the situation with Nagisa Shiota/Oishi ( _which one is it, even?)_ -mostly because she had figured that this was a case where knowing less was better, and she felt she knew enough now anyway. But still, she could hardly deny that she would like to know more about it all. It was another reminder of just how far and deep 3E's legacy stretched, but for some reason, it was not a reminder that made her twitch awkwardly at her past views.

"I don't know. I mean, I think they met the AI that was in their class?" Hana tilted her head as she thought about it. "Hiro-san mentioned it when we were chatting online, I think."

"Ah, I see." _The A.I. They called her 'Ritsu', right? I wonder what it was like, having a classmate like that? Would I have enjoyed that experience, if it was me?_

"Still, anyway, Asami-Chan, it's okay anyway. We were prepared to fight right up until graduation for Ending the End Class, you know? I think that no matter how long it takes to plan and put into place a school of our own, we can do it. We'll figure it out."

"And I can help with that."

Kei, who had not spoken at all until then, managed to hold both their gazes evenly.

"I've got a way to go, myself. But….I wanted to do something like this myself, before. You remember."

Asami nodded, remembering only how she used to laugh at him. She wondered how she could have been so stupid back then, and was grateful she knew better now. Kei didn't give any indicator of having thought of this, though.

"So yeah. Maybe when I'm more….normal again, and I've caught up with my schooling and what-have-you, I could even be one of the teachers. And maybe Ikuko-san could…..well, at least I think she'd pitch in with ideas and stuff." Kei added. Hana nodded earnestly.

"I think that's a great idea!" Hana enthused. "You should totally come and be a teacher for us, Kei-Chan!"

"I have to agree. And I think it'll help, having a concrete goal to work for….so yeah, no arguments from me there."

"No arguments? Rare." Kei says, straight faced. Asami pulls a hideous face at him, then sticks her tongue out, and they all laugh. Asami cherished the sound, and realised it had been far, far too long since they had all laughed like this. She had to make sure that they had more moments like this, going forward. She just had to. Then, she realised something else.

 _She said 'Kei-Chan'. Not 'Onii-san'. Hana called him 'Kei-Chan' again._

"What are you grinning at, Asami?"

"Oh, nothing much, really. Just thinking about how awesome this is all going to be."

Which was true. But the realisation was also having her thinking that no redeeming quality of Kunugigaoka (if even there were any left), would be worth having, if it meant that this moment out here on a winter weekend with her siblings would not be possible. Though in her own way, she would miss it, she was more or less glad that it would be closing, drawing to an end.

 _And that is how it should be._

 **…**

The rest of the holidays plodded along relatively uneventfully. There were, of course, meet-ups of all sorts, pulling together details, finding out more about the school closure, and of course, studying hard. They didn't make plans to meet up as a class for New Year, the same way as they did for the summer, but they all went out anyway, in their own friendship (as well as family) groups, and ended up meeting each other anyway, which was more than fine by all of them. All things considered, it was a good winter break to have had, especially considering the fact that they had won, and it was all but official.

Still, on the night before school started again, as he plodded around his room getting things ready, Tada could not help but feel a bit wistful, unsure. Nerves, most likely, a strange sense of disbelief that all their efforts had come together. Of course, he was happy, this was what he had wanted, more than anything, for the 3E to end. Hiro, of course, was ecstatic that the school was closing, and while he did not have quite the same feelings, he thought it a good thing too-it was time for the school to wind to a close anyway, it had been enduring for far too long. But even so. There was this feeling, churning around the inside of him, and he didn't know what it was, or what to do with it. _This is the price of winning, huh?_

As he sorted out his pencil case, he heard his phone vibrating, and went to get it.

"Hanae?"

"Hey there, are you ready for tomorrow then?"

Tada smiled, for the sound of her voice always made him happy, but it was a wistful sort of smile, as he tried to sort through the clutter of his mind.

"Hmmm….that's a question now, isn't it?"

"Aaaand you don't have an answer for it." Tsukuda laughed. "Go figure. What are you thinking, right now?"

"Uhh…"

"Okay, okay, not right _now_ , right now. But you know what I mean, right?"

"Mm, yeah." Tada considered, wondering where he should start, exactly, and sighed. "I'm just wondering how everyone is going to deal with it, the school closing and all."

"I…..I take it you mean all the people who don't know?" Tsukuda asked.

"Yeah." Tada said. "I mean, think about Asami-Chan. She was able to understand us, and still like Kunugigaoka, right? It's probably cutting her up."

"Hmm, I don't know about that. I was chatting with Hana the other day, and there was no indicator….but yeah, it's going to shake up the world. Our worlds, anyway."

"Yeah. I am dreading the moment Aunt Chiyo hears about this. She'll _explode_ , Hanae. She went there herself, did I tell you?Like, uh….I think it was around seven years before Mum's class, when she was in third year, so back when the school was really new, I guess….yeah, and she wants to send my cousins there, when they're old enough. Fun times."

"Pfft, yeah. My parents are going to hate it, too. They still don't even _get_ the Ending the End Class thing, much, you know? I wish that at least they'd get it. It's okay if they have different opinions as such, because hey, that's the way of the world, but you know…." Tsukuda trailed off.

"Yeah, I know. I know…" Tada agreed. "Still, it's just….argh, I'm not sure, really, what I'm thinking."

"Well, we knew, right? That the outcome was going to shake things up dramatically. For all of us. I'm guessing it's just different, living it. Am I right?"

"That's it. That's _exactly_ it. "Tada said, relieved. Tsukuda laughed.

"You sound so relieved at that. Don't tell me you were beating yourself up thinking about how to explain your mind."

"Not beating myself up, per se, but close enough."

"Bloody _hell_ , Tada." He could almost hear her shake her head down the phone. "Still, I guess you've got more of a reason, than the rest of us. Look what the museum dredged up, for you."

"Hmm…I'm glad to know it though, now anyway. Before, I don't even know, and just the fact of it hurt, but now….yeah, I think it was for the better. I really want it to have been, anyway. Can you imagine if it was us, if this project we did ended up quashed, if we had to keep it a secret until we died?" Tada wondered.

"That would be ridiculous." Tsukuda stated shortly.

"Yeah. But the weight would be the same, I think. So…ah," Tada sighed. "I think even once it is completely, officially over and all, it'll take a while for these things to settle down in my mind."

"I think it'll be longer than a while, you know?" Tsukuda laughed. Tada frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, don't we have a school to create, in place of Kunugigaoka?"

"Huh." Tada thought about this. "Yeah, we do. I suppose you're right, huh? Oh well."

"Yup, oh well. Still, it's something to look forward to, right?"

Tada took a moment to answer, but really, he did not need that moment at all.

"Yeah."

* * *

 **Ahhh, yeah, this is kinda a short chapter. I really wanted to make it longer, but any scene I thought of adding into this just felt extraneous and kinda unnecessary. Even trying to put in an actual scene where Tada and Hiro meet Ritsu ended up all weird, so I scrapped that. However, rest assured that this does take place, just off-screen.**

 **There are a bunch of things alluded to here about what's happening to Kunugigaoka, and though I feel that with the help of the next chapter (when it's out), you'll be able to understand just how the school is closing, but just in case, I will stick a note at the end of the next chapter, because I 'm just kinda lazy and cannot be bothered to put it here now.**

 **Anyway, that's enough from me for now, so yeah, see you next time, and as always, please leave feedback!**


	75. The End Of Kunugigaoka Gakuen

**The chapter title is based off of a comment 3-E Student left me in a review for one of the recent previous chapters, and is also a nod to Danganronpa 3 because freaking bloody hell Danganronpa 3! I love it but it is making an emotional wreck out of me. But I regret nothing, and will also defend Ruruka Andou until I die because no matter her flaws she did _not_ deserve what she ultimately got. Not to mention Sakakura is the best example of character development I have ever seen, Izayoi is the ultimate boyfriend, Chiaki is precious in both human and AI form (also did not deserve her fate), we deserved to get to know the real Miaya Gekkougohara etc.. etc. etc...you can see the extent of my obsessions here. **

**But anyway, enough of me babbling about a different series- here is the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

When Tada woke up, he did not get straight out of bed, though the day was important. Instead, he just lay there for a moment, looking up at the roof, giving himself a moment. _And this is where it ends, huh? For real._ Of course, it was not the end, end. They would still go through the rest of the school year, and it would be as normal as it could be for everyone (though really, if he thought about it, their year hadn't been 'normal' for a while, for what group of teenagers tried to overthrow their school's system as part of their everyday lives anyway?).

But still, once the facts were out there, once the announcement was made, it would draw a line, signal the end of one thing and the possible beginning of another. It would not just have to be them who made a new kind of 'normal', but everyone else too. _Couldn't have created a better case of an even playing field if I'd tried._ It was a very satisfying thought.

It was not necessarily going to be easy, not as such, but that was alright. They had managed the year pretty well, they had so many people supporting them, and they had each other, too. _So it'll be fine._ Tada smiled to himself for a moment, picturing the faces of Tsukuda and everyone else as he listened to the sounds of Hiro and Chika already bustling about elsewhere in the house and then, still yawning a little, he got up and prepared to start the day.

 **…**

Grinning to herself, Ruko left her house, crossed over to Ueno's, and knocked on the door. It was Ueno who answered, smiling at her. Aimi was behind him as usual, and her hair was in two buns today-it suited the little girl well.

"Yo!" she greeted them. "I like your hair, Aimi-Chan, it's cute. But where's Naru-san and Souji-Chan?"

"Thanks." Aimi blushed, pleased.

"Sou-kun was up all night, and he's fussing about breakfast too, so Mum's with him and that's why she hasn't come out. She does say hi though." Ueno explained.

"Oh? Is he alright?" Ruko asked, concerned.

"Well, I don't think he's seriously ill or anything like that, it's just one of his funny moods. I'm sure that by the time he's had a proper nap and we're back home again, he'll be back to normal."

"Yeah, I think so. Are you excited today, Ruko-nee-san?" Aimi piped up, looking between the two of them with sparkling eyes. Ruko didn't even bother wondering why Aimi knew about things anymore. There wasn't too much point. In any case, she reckoned the kid deserved it, for helping Ueno see sense. So she just nodded.

"Yup!"

"Cool." Aimi beamed, and Ruko tweaked one of her ponytails affectionately, making her squirm with delight.

"Well then," Ueno said decisively. "Shall we get going? We wouldn't want to be late today of all days, right?"

"You also realise that the assembly is at the same time a normal monthly school assembly would be anyway, right?" Ruko deadpanned at him as he announced their leaving to Naru, and closed the door. Ueno gave a disappointed sigh, which made Ruko cackle.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Let's go!"

They started their walk to school, just talking about various things. It didn't take long for Aimi's friends to find her, and so she soon rushed off, leaving Ruko and Ueno on their own.

"So…." Ruko slanted a teasing look in Ueno's direction. "What do you say to stopping off for some extra sweets?"

"Extra? How many do you have anyway….?"

"Oh, not that much. " Ruko opened her bag a fraction to show him. Instantly, Ueno face-palmed.

"Ruko-kun! I can't see your school things for the amount that's in there! Why do you need _more_?"

"Aww but Shou-Chan, don't you think that today calls for extra sugar?"

"No, I do not." Ueno sighed. Ruko pouted and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Please….."

Ueno sighed heavily again, and then shook his head and smiled knowingly.

"Alright then." He said. "Let's go, before I change my mind. Aimi, if you have pocket money, you can get something too."

"Yay!"

 **…**

"Ichinose-san! Do you have the watering can?"

"Yeah, I do. Why, do you need it?" Haru called over, stopping what she was doing and standing up.

"These plants are looking a little droopy, so yes." Kinomoto explained, poking his head around from around the corner. Tsuwabuki was clearing dead plants nearby, and didn't look up, just bumbling along as his usual self.

"Haruka-Chan, it's okay, he can take mine!" Hirigi said, rushing over with his own. "I've not even started using it anyway."

"Oh! Thanks, Kazuma-kun." Haru smiled at him, and he grinned back at her, blushing a little, before going off to give Kinomoto the watering can, and going off to do something else in another part of the flowerbeds. Haru smiled to herself, and resumed the watering. It was not a particularly nice day, as such, for it was cold. But there hadn't been any snow, and the sun was out, though mostly hidden by clouds. In other words, it seemed to her to be a perfectly fine day for the occasion.

 _It's ending, huh?_ She hadn't thought about the end until now, though endings were always inevitable. She had once-before ending up in 3E, she had been so looking forward to getting to the end of her time here, cutting ties and maybe trying again at a different school. When things had gotten worse, in the weeks and days before her expulsion, part of her had resigned herself to perhaps being home-schooled. Normal, happy friendships, a peaceful school life, it seemed that these were not things that a child of the Yakuza could have. But she had been half wrong, and half right, but not for the reasons she had assumed. Trying to bring about change, start a revolution-those were hardly peaceful occupations. Not even slightly. But it had brought her happy, normal friendships, with people who were willing to see her for her, and didn't care for her background. Then there was Hirigi. She would always treasure how their friendship had started-even now, thinking about it, she was amazed. Still, she had not thought about endings that much, despite the fact that their entire efforts over the year had been all about the endings.

When the watering can was empty, she stood up and went to fill it. As water glugged cheerfully into the can, she looked up at the sky, and then at her three closest friends as they went about carrying out their own roles in the garden. She knew it was going to be sad, when they finished the school year and went their separate ways to high school and beyond, when all of this really and truly ended. But even with knowing that, she somehow suspected that things wouldn't really end. _Not this, not these friendships._ No, they wouldn't. They'd find some other way to come together and look after flowers, they would keep in touch. They would always, always be friends. Though some things would inevitably end, this wouldn't.

And, as she watched the three of them, Haru found herself glad of that, more than anything.

 **…**

The news of the special assembly seemed to reach everyone pretty quickly. Of course, the school email might have had something to do with that, but even so, Hiro got pretty annoyed with the whispers and buzz by the time she had made her way to the classroom, she was already reaching up to switch off her hearing aids, and then proceeded to bury herself in a book.

After a while, she felt someone tapping her fiercely on the shoulder, and turned to see Asami glaring at her, Otonashi hovering behind her. Hiro rolled her eyes, and then held up a hand, telling them to wait. Then, she fiddled with her hearing aids, and let sound filter back in.

"Morning, Chihiro-Chan. It's the day." Asami said cheerfully.

"U-uh, hello, Kitakawa-san." Otonashi added hurriedly, inclining his head. Hiro smiled at him.

"Just calling me Hiro is fine now, if you want." she told him, wanting to be kind. Otonashi nodded and smiled, and took a deep breath, looking around him almost longingly. She felt almost sorry for him-she knew how it felt, having the world knocked on its axis. _But at least he has his family._ She knocked that thought aside quickly-it was an unfair one to have. There were different kinds of loss, she should have known that by now.

"Anyway, it's the day! Aren't you excited, Chihiro-Chan?" Asami asked. Hiro did not hold back on rolling her eyes.

"I want it to _happen_ , then everyone can stop yammering on about it." She stated.

"But, I'd imagine once the bombshell's been dropped, that'll have people talking even more." Otonashi pointed out.

"But it's not like that's a bad thing, is it? Isn't that what your brother wanted, in a way."

"Ehh…..I suppose so." Hiro shrugged.

"Either way, it's not like it's going to go away for a while." Otonashi concluded.

"No, you're right." Hiro sighed.

"Ah, Otonashi-kun, it's the gossip she's talking about." Asami explained. "It's a pet peeve of hers."

"It's a bit more than that, Asami." Hiro informed her darkly, even as she grinned at the joking tone. Otonashi, for his part, looked a little concerned.

"Then there's little wonder you've been wanting to get out of here from the moment you arrived." He said, almost wonderingly. Hiro stared at him.

"You _noticed_ that?"

"Well, it's not as if Iknew for sure. But I could guess."

"Ah." Hiro thought about this. "Well."

"It doesn't matter now though!" Asami declared. Both Hiro and Otonashi stared at her.

"What? Yes, the past happened and is important and all. But it's more important to keep looking forward, and moving that way too, rather than just dwelling there. Let's just look forward to our new start, okay? Make the best of it, and all."

"That…..that seems reasonable enough." Otonashi shrugged, eventually, looking a little blown away by Asami's fierceness. _Well, he's only really been properly spending time with her for a week. Meh,_ Hiro thought, stifling a smile.

"Yeah, I suppose _._ " She agreed, nodding. At that moment, the classroom door opened and a few more members of their class came through, including Etsuko and a couple of others from Dance Club. Naturally, they all made a beeline to the three of them.

"Hey, hey, did you see this!" Etsuko was the first to reach them, and waved her phone around, clearly thinking that this was a good substitute for a greeting.

"What do you think is happening then, huh? Do you suppose someone _died_ or something like that?"

Hiro groaned and face-palmed. _Let this end, PLEASE!_

 **…**

"Hey, Aida?"

"Hmm, what is it?"

Aida turned idly towards her classmate, who was running to catch up to her as everyone in the main building headed to assembly after lunch, and raised an eyebrow at her ruffled and somewhat confused look.

"Do you know anything about the assembly?" her classmate asked in a hurry, her words all piling up on top of each other.

"No…..why?"

"Well, you…uhhh, you were part of… _that class_ , for a little while, right?"

"3E, you mean? Sure." Aida shrugged as she rolled her eyes- _'that class', really?._ "I don't get what that has to do with anything though?"

"Ah, well, you know." Her classmate looked sheepish. "It's just that during morning break I overheard Otsuka-san and Maeda-san grumbling a little and they mentioned something about it being the fault of 3E, which doesn't surprise me but yet it confuses me? I dunno. I just thought maybe you'd know? You're kinda friendly with them and all, even now you're here, right?"

Aida had many choice responses for this, but found herself feeling more than tired, and so, with some effort, she bit them all down.

"No, I don't know anything." She simply said. Disappointment flitted across her classmate's face, but then she grinned prettily and shrugged.

"Oh, okay! Oh, hey, Tachiko-Chan!" spotting a friend from 3C, her classmate promptly seemed to forget about her as she rushed ahead. Aida didn't really mind, and so she just fell into step with a bunch of others from her class while she battled to hide just how smug she was feeling.

Because she knew exactly what was going on, thanks to Ayako and Tada, and she was incredibly excited about it all. _Well done, 3E. You won, and you deserve this._

 **…**

The assembly hall was buzzing when Tada and his class arrived, even though not every class had actually arrived yet-which was understandable, as this was a rare case where the high school was also joining them. Somehow, it seemed that some had cottoned onto the fact that it had something to do with them, for many (mostly those who had reconciled with them after the museum), came up to them and asked. But as they had promised, they didn't say anything, and just kept their answers evasive.

"Wow, the school's really on edge, huh?" Ayako commented.

"It sure seems like it." Ruko said. "I'll bet they will all explode afterwards, once they know."

"Hmm, probably." Ayako shrugged. "Bet you could get some good reaction pictures, eh, Ruko-Chan?"

"Perhaps…"

"Why would you want to do that?" a confused Reimiya asked.

"Please don't." Tada sighed, already imagining how well that could go down. Ruko and Ayako just pulled cheeky faces at Tada, and started talking about something else. _Good grief._ He caught Tsukuda's eye and pulled a face. She laughed.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Well. Hopefully." Tsukuda pulled a face of her own, and just shrugged heavily. Tada laughed again, and they continued.

They spotted Munakata and Tsukasa while heading to their spot, and waved to them, while Kinomoto got snagged by some members of what presumably was the Flower Arranging Club he had been part of and spent a brief amount of time chatting to them before heading back to their class's usual spot. A few others that various 3E members knew also came to talk, all clearly less concerned about publicly associating with them than they had been before-this included Eka, who despite still being self-conscious and awkward, was a lot more confident in coming over to greet them all. Komori and her two friends hovered, glaring, but did not dare to come any closer, which came as a relief to all of them. Tada also noticed a perky-looking first year girl looking slightly warily at Yukiyama, but as Yukiyama seemed to either be unbothered or just simply not noticing the person in the first place, he dismissed this as nothing to worry about.

Eventually, everyone had arrived, and the buzz started to go down. A quiet spread across the room, and they all waited. Tada noted that for some reason or other, Okikura wasn't standing and waiting, surveying them all with his usual smug look. Instead, he came in from another entrance and climbed up the steps and settled himself. But he still somehow managed to sweep the same sort of looks across them. _What a slime. Oh well, it matters little now._ Once there was complete silence, Okikura cleared his throat, and then began.

"Hello, Kunugigaoka Junior High, and to the High School, too. Now, I am sure you've been wondering what this assembly is about, so I will get right onto it. Now, depending on how aware you are of current events-hopefully you all are, even though I'm sure the majority of you have all been studying well- you'll be aware of a little unrest that has been stirring in the school. You'll probably have known this unrest by the name of 'Ending the End Class', and as the rest of you are all intelligent, I am sure you know who was responsible for it."

 _Of course an implied insult or two gets chucked in here._ Tada was not the only one who noticed this, and some of his friends audibly protested. But this time, there was a difference in how the slipped-in insults affected the rest of the school. Sure, there were some people who laughed, but there were many others who, on a quick sweep of the scene, looked aghast, annoyed or who were trying their utmost best to be blank, to simply be sure that they were not giving the reaction that was wanted. Sure enough, those that were laughing soon stopped, and Okikura himself looked a little rattled before he pulled himself together to continue.

"Now, in an ideal world, this would have been prevented and stopped much earlier, and have become little more than a failed timewaster. However, as we always try to remind you, this is _not_ an ideal world that we live in, and as such, this did not happen. Class 3E's efforts became more noticed and supported, and after the school festival, which I am sure that you all remember, and so as a result, they became more popular, to the point where much pressure has been placed on us, as a school, to indeed do what 3E wanted. Which means that yes, next year, there will not be a 3E. However, as a result, there will also be no first years coming into the school."

The silence after this was deadly, but soon it was pushed back by a collective murmuring of surprise and confusion.

"He's really trying to drag this out, huh?" Tsukuda commented.

"I suspect that it's to put us on edge, as one final dig." Eriko replied softly.

"Hmmm…." Tada murmured, still keeping his eyes on the front, where Okikura had now put up a hand for silence. When he got it, he continued.

"What I mean by this is that not only have 3E successfully toppled down their class, but they have also toppled down everything this school stands for. And as such, I regret to inform you that we cannot continue as a school. So, by not accepting any new students into both the junior high and high school divisions, this school will begin a staggered closure from next year onwards."

Again, there was a buzz of disbelief, and again, Okikura put his hand up and waited for it to end. Tada could not stop a grin from stealing across his face as he looked around. _Here it is. Finally, here it is._

"Do not worry though, students. Proper arrangements have been, and are still being made to make sure that you still get a proper education and to make sure your futures aren't damaged, and we shall explain those now. First up, we have the Student Council President of the junior high, Takeru Hasegawa, and the Student Council President of the high school, Ichiro Hasegawa, to explain what will happen with the third years of both divisions…."

* * *

 **I have never put so many POVs in one freaking chapter before! I think. Well, some of my 'epilogue type' one-shots included many POVs in one setting, but this is different...ahem, anyway. So this is the final chapter of the story. However, expect two more updates before this story officially winds down for good! One is a typical epilogue which'll take place some years later and give you some answers about the new school and other things, and the other will be an 'Ending Song' for the story. And what do I mean by that? Well, when that particular chapter gets uploaded, then a full explanation will be provided. So there's a thing to look forward to!**

 **But anyway, I promised an explanation of how the school is shutting itself down, and I will try my best. As it's been described, it is a 'staggered' closure. How this will happen is that once the third years of both divisions leave, there will not be any new students coming in to fill up the first year, so the middle school will only have second year and third year students, and the high school will be the same. The escalator system also is not a thing anymore, so these new third years (in the middle school division) will all need to take entrance exams like 3E students had to, as if in an ordinary middle school. The new third years in the high school are obviously moving onto university anyway, so this is less of a big deal for them. Once they're graduated and gone, now each division will only have one year group's worth of students-the last sets of third years. Once they've finished and gone, then the school is completely shut down, meaning that now proper work on creating the new school can begin. Work can still continue on a smaller scale while students are in, with more being able to be done as students gradually leave. However, it is also a solution that is less disruptive to both students and teachers- they have time to think about their prospective high-schools ., teachers have more time to find new employment (if they do not wish to just retire anyway, or work for the new school), that kind of thing.**

 **But yeah, anyway, there it is! Please do leave feedback, and I hope you'll enjoy the last two updates.**


	76. ENDING SONG: Monochrome Sky

**Yes, this is a weird sort of chapter, as you might have gathered from the title. And you're also probably also wondering how on earth a fanfiction can have an ending song in the first place. The answer to that is that of course, it is not literally an ending song-the song I picked is a bit over four minutes, and trust me, even if you are a fast reader, this will not take only four minutes to read. That, and if this was actually animated I don't think my described scenes would translate well into this anyway. But yeah, this is vaguely modelled on anime series where, in the final episode, they have a full version of the ending song (or a completely new song/a previously used insert song) play while there are credits and sometimes a set of clips/ a picture montage. Here, what I describe will basically be a mixture of 'clips' and 'images', and for a sense of timeline this picks up from the previous chapter (which was the final actual chapter) and goes all the way up to the end of the school year, when Tada and the others graduate. I've tried to include as many of the current 3E characters in the scenes, as well as the other various characters who have made their appearances, but of course it was impossible to include everyone, let alone give them the same amount of attention as others. Still, I think there's a good enough range here.**

 **The general concept of an 'Ending song chapter' is not fully my own. I was inspired by two Danganronpa SYOCs on this site- 'Double or Nothing' by SDproductions (which is currently on hiatus) and 'Ultimate Danganronpa 3: Despair's Final Challenge' by Maestro Infinite (which is still progressing with many cliff-hangers). Both have done a similar thing for their fics, except in their cases it was an opening song and quite clearly 'TV-sized'. But yeah, this is where my inspiration comes from, so some credit should go there.**

 **So, anyway, the song I've used is 'Monochrome Sky' by Lila'C Records. I've included both the Romaji lyrics and the English translations (which in the brackets directly underneath the Romaji, and is also not my own-I don't know enough Japanese to translate, lol). The passages/paragraph/wall of text/whatever you want to call it will all correspond to the lyrics _above_ them. Or rather, the lines of the song will correspond to the writing below them. I'm aware that's a very strangely worded explanation, but it's the best I can do. That and I feel that you'll get it from reading the chapter. **

**Also, the lyrics are meant to be centre aligned, and I will use the doc viewer to make sure they are, but if this site does its weird thing and shunts some of them off to the side anyway even after that, I apologise deeply.**

 **But anyway, I'll stop yammering on now, and just leave you to enjoy this. As always, please leave feedback!**

* * *

The introduction of the song is paired with a scene showing everyone leave the fateful assembly, in particular focusing on 3E, who are naturally rather ecstatic, laughing and grinning as they leave. The camera does move here and there to other students, but mostly for brief, fleeting shots, showing a range of reactions as they go back to their classes: excitement, horror, uncertainty about the future, and hope. Only a few groups and/or individuals are focused on: Ueno approaching Ruko with a big grin as Hiro and Asami follow, heading straight to their respective twins to congratulate them. Munakata and Tsukasa standing together watching everything as it unfolds, clearly satisfied even if overall they seem enigmatic. Aida grinning triumphantly. Some, like Otsuka, Maeda, and Komori's second year gang, are openly disapproving, scowling or refusing to watch the joy of everyone else. Eka and some other girls wave to 3E as they head off to class, and from the way Fuyumi and Jori react more enthusiastically clues the viewer into the fact that these other girls are also from the gymnastics team. A few groups of students who have not been part of the story up until this point rush to various 3E members, saying things with contrite, unhappy and embarrassed expressions-apologies for the way they treated them, until this point. The reactions of the 3E members vary in kindness and warmth, but all clearly accepting the apology.

Then, the scene cuts to the class being back at their campus, in front of the school building. For a moment, it looks as if this scene is taking place on the same day as the assembly, but it isn't. For one thing, the weather is even more unusually brighter for the time of year, and then the cherry blossom tree already has a few blossoms here and there because of it. They are jostling with each other, as if trying to get into a picture-which they are. Taiga Okajima is the one taking the photograph, and with him is Maki, which suggests he is here so he can write a piece about the success of the Ending the End Class project. Eventually, they all get into place- Tada in the centre, Tsukuda one side of him, Eriko on the other, and the photo is taken, and the screen fills with the brilliant light of the camerabulb flash just as the lyrics kick in.

furitsuzukeru ame netsu wo ubatteku  
namariiro ni oowareta sora

(Rain falls from a silvery sky  
and washes the pain away.)

The camerabulb flash fades, and the scene shows Ayako's living room. She is sitting on the sofa with Naomi, who is carefully cutting out a newspaper article from _Kunugi Daybreak_. When she is done, she puts it in a frame that has been waiting patiently on the coffee table, and crosses to the mantelpiece and places the frame there carefully, dead centre. Ayako comes to stand next to Naomi, and she puts her arm around her shoulders as they look at the article, which has the headline 'THE END CLASS HAS ENDED.'

dorekurai no jikan ga tatta no?  
hoho wo tsutau shizuku wa kodoku

(How long have I been here?  
Loneliness trickles from my cheeks.)

The scene abruptly changes to Tsukasa Kashima hesitantly walking down the road to Oceanfront, her clothes casual but pretty and clearly brand new, a nervous look on her face as she enters . Hesitantly, she looks around; gripping her skirt, but Fumiko, spotting her, dashes around from behind the counter, and approaches her in her usual friendly manner. There is more focus on Tsukasa than Fumiko though as she is pointed to where Seiji is sitting. He looks up, and smiles a rare smile as he catches sight of his sister, who relaxes a fraction as she walks over and sits opposite him. It is not shown what happens next as the focus shifts back to Fumiko, who takes an order from another group of people, and then goes back behind the counter and into the kitchen. One of those making food goes over to her-her fiancé, from the way he looks fondly at her- and they exchange brief words before he hands her a plate of crepes that a customer is waiting for. Just before she turns to leave, he says something and points at her stomach, and Fumiko smiles tenderly before she places her hand there- thus revealing to the viewer that Fumiko is starting to show signs of being pregnant.

itsuka koe ga todoku to iu no nara nando demo namae wo yobu  
soredemo tarinai kawaita kokoro wo mitasu tame fumikonde yuku

(They say you'll hear a voice someday, calling your name over and over,  
but that won't be enough to quench the desert that is my heart)

Abruptly, the scene cuts to Isogai walking down the corridor of the middle school that Ikuko works in. He is led by another teacher, and there is someone following them hesitantly. He is presented as a blurry figure at first, but as they reach the classroom Ikuko teaches in, the shot comes into focus to reveal this second person as Nagisa, who is looking around him warily as the teacher opens the door and pops her head around, only to leave a few moments later, gesturing to Isogai and Nagisa that they should go in, which they do. Then, the shot moves around so that though Nagisa can still be seen in the shot, for a moment it is as if the viewer is looking at the scene in front of him from his perspective- Ikuko sitting at a desk with a couple of students , going over some sort of work. When Isogai gets her attention, she looks up and frowns, not expecting her father to be there, but then her gaze shifts to see Nagisa, and that is when the viewpoint shifts again to show a full close up of her face as she gasps in surprise, eyes widening before they fill with tears. Then, the camera zooms out to show her get up and cross the room to hug Nagisa, just as the chorus starts and the scene fades out.

Gloaming! Disturb in distance of stars ki no muku mama  
Groovy! Revive a wish and revise your stance irodotteku  
Sunday... nyuudou kumo ni good morning call omoi nosete  
tada tsuyoku anata wo motometeita

(Gloaming! Disturb the distance of stars in any way you like.  
Groovy! Revive your wish and revise your stance, bring colour to the sky.  
Sunday….the good morning call of thunderheads convey my emotions,  
yet still, I long for you more than ever.)

The next sequence of scenes that is shown are all variations on the students of 3E (as well as some from the main campus) studying in different ways and locations. Most are in the classroom, but there are a few other different locations: Yamada lecturing about some sort of science related topic to a small group of students sitting outside the 3E school building, as she uses the cherry tree to lean her notes and props against to show them to everyone. Asami and Hana sitting in Hana's room and going over a set of questions. Tada in his room, holding a study group with Haru, Kinomoto, Ayako, Ruko and Ueno- the group he had studied for end-of-terms with the year before. Hiro sitting alone in the school library, poring over a textbook, Hasegawa doing the same thing more than a few rows away, neither acknowledging the other (assuming that they noticed each other in the first place). Kitabayashi and Akira sitting in a quiet corner of Oceanfront with Isogai, discussing points. Haru getting her 'uncles' to test her on concepts using flashcards. Eriko sitting at her computer, showing Megu questions from a textbook via Skype and making notes.

After this last scene with Eriko and Megu, the next sequence of scenes shows the third year students –specifically, 3E, Hiro and Ueno-lining up outside various different high schools, getting ready to take entrance exams and holding their entrance cards tightly. There is no particular focus on one student over any other, but one thing that is made notable is that they are all wearing a solid expression of determination. Something similar is shown when briefly, the scene flicks over to show the other students scribbling away at their final end-of-year exams in Kunugigaoka. There is also a brief shot to show Mayu and Shiki sitting university entrance exams while Aimi posts a package clearly marked as her portfolio for art school.

As the camera zooms in on one of the exam papers, it fades out to change the scene, this time a close up of a different pile of papers. Quickly, it zooms out to show Isogai in his office gathering up said papers, so it is unclear what they are for. As he gathers the papers up, he stands up, and the two people with them –Naoya and Yuuya- stand up too. Isogai hands Naoya the papers, and he tucks them under his arm so that he can shake hands with Isogai. Once Yuuya has done the same, they both leave, arms linked until they are actually outside. Then, they let go, so that Naoya can put the papers carefully in the bag he has with him, and once again, these papers are focused on again with a close-up. Just before they disappear into the bag, the words 'adoption' and 'information' can be seen.

aketa mado no sukima kara fuku  
kaze no kokochiyosa ni mi wo yudane

(Wind blows through a tiny crack in an open window.  
I close my eyes and surrender to the cool breeze)

The scene changes abruptly to Kei standing hesitantly in front of a mirror, straightening the collar of a smart-casual shirt, and regarding himself. Though there is something a little more filled out and healthy about him, he still looks as if he will be easily blown away, but something sparks resolutely in his eyes as he tears away from the mirror and runs downstairs in a hurry. His mother and Maehara are waiting for him- Maehara salutes him and grins, while his mother shoves a bento box at him. He takes the bento box gratefully, and nods at Maehara, and once they have bade his mother goodbye, Maehara and Kei walk up to a building that advertises itself as an 'Adult Learning Centre'. They stop outside it, and there is a close-up of Kei's face as he gulps and swallows, before zooming out again to show Maehara offer what are assumed to be clear words of encouragement, which makes Kei steel himself and walk in with some traces of regained confidence. Maehara watches until Kei can no longer be seen, and then crosses the road to sit on a bench to wait for him.  
The camera follows this motion, then moves away for a brief moment before cutting to show Yukiyama opening the door to a second-floor flat in a decent looking apartment complex, dragging a suitcase and a holdall as he does so. The viewers are shown him taking his bags to the bedroom, but very little of the flat is shown, though the few indicators are that it is pre-furnished and generally a nice place. Rather, what is focused on is the fact that instead of him going straight into any proper unpacking, he digs out for two particular items, before straightening and regarding the room. Then, he makes a decision, and crosses the room to the small chest of drawers and arranging the items. When he is finished, Yukiyama smiles in satisfaction, and walks back to his bags, but the camera lingers on the items he has arranged- an instantly recognisable statue of a cherry blossom tree, and a number of small tubs of soap bubble liquid.

hareta sora wo mau tori tachi wa  
jibun no tsubasa de habataiteku

(The sky has cleared up, and the birds have come out  
and I'm ready to spread my own wings too.)

Then, there is a short sequence of scenes showing 3E in the class for the remaining time that they have left, but rather than these scenes showing them doing lessons, these are all different brain storming sessions, with Tada, Tsukuda and Eriko at the board, taking the lead, Fuyumi making notes for all of them as usual. The big heading on the board each time reads 'NEW SCHOOL LAUNCH' and a few seconds of focus on the board reveal that some of the things they are discussing includes the name of the school, the school rules, and anti-bullying policies. The entire class are always there, and Ichijou is too, more often than not, but the fact that these are different meetings that are occurring are shown by the presence of different visitors at different times- Isogai most often, sometimes alone and sometimes with Maehara, Kei and Ikuko almost as frequently, Hiro a few times, and Asami once or twice too. Once, Gakushuu is amongst the visitors, and Sayo makes an appearance too.

sore wo nagamete omou kako ni egaita mirai no jibun wa  
tanchou na shikisai dake de owaru mono de wa nakatta hazu dato wo

(I look at this and think 'this is the life I chose'  
A life so monochrome shouldn't be the end of the world)

The next scene decides to focus on something outside of school-namely, the hospital, and one of the physical therapy rooms within it. Out of the various patients and hospital staff in the room, three patients are focused on- Fuyumi, Karasuma and a dark-eyed boy of a similar age to Fuyumi of unknown identity. Fuyumi is working alone, whereas Karasuma and the boy are each being taken through exercises by a physiotherapist, but they all look at each other and/or say encouraging things to each other. This scene switches to show the same three people sitting in the hospital canteen, but with some others- Fuyumi's mother, Tada and Hiro, Jori and Eka. Kaori is also there, and since she sits with the dark-eyed boy, this clues the viewer into as to who he is: Kaori's cousin, Ataru. They all eat snacks and/or drink water while they talk, when Tada spots someone and calls them over. The camera then moves over to the other side of the hospital canteen, where Shiki is getting a drink from a vending machine. She looks up, startled, and then when she notices the group, she blinks, before walking over to them somewhat hesitantly. When she gets there, though Tada beams and greets her as the one who called her over, it is Hiro who scoots over so that Shiki has a place to sit, and the two of them exchange a look of understanding before going back to the conversations that were occurring before. Shiki mostly concentrates on her carton of milk and the lollipops she has, but participates from time to time, and seems relatively happy.

Gloaming! Disturb in distance of stars ishi wo motte  
Groovy! Revive a wish and revise your stance irodotteku  
Sunday... nyuudou kumo ni good morning call asu wo mezasu  
egao no sono saki ni michi ga tsuzuku

(Gloaming! Disturb the distance of stars, give me a reason.  
Groovy! Revive a wish and revise your stance, colour it to life.  
Sunday….the good morning call of thunderheads foreshadow tomorrow.  
Beyond my smile lies a long road ahead. )

As the camera focuses on Shiki's face for a moment, the scene changes, and Shiki is shown again, but this time, it is late evening and she is alone, in her bedroom (with furniture and other things that look very high end), typing furiously at the computer as commands and windows pop up and disappear. Then, the scene changes, and portrays Shiki again, but this time, she is sitting on the floor of another bedroom, this time on her laptop, still typing furiously, but smiling foxily. Izzy sits on the floor opposite her, also on his own laptop and grinning in a similar way. But where Shiki is sitting up with a lollipop in her mouth as she types, Izzy is sprawled on his stomach and chattering.  
Kuroba sits on a chair near a desk, watching them with some bemusement, while Hana perches on said desk, her legs swinging and her eyes wide. At one point, Kuroba and Hana exchange looks of utter bafflement, broken only when Hana smiles winningly at him and he blinks, taken aback, before smiling back with a (slightly) more composed manner.

Then, the scene shifts to show a playground, with a whole group of children playing there at some point in the afternoon, a pile of backpacks left in the corner indicating that this is after a school day. Amongst the children, Aimi, Suzume, some of their other classmates and the next youngest Yoshida siblings (Nao and Rei) can be spotted. And Hajime is there too, getting stuck right in as he joins in with the children's games, while Ruko and Ueno mostly just watch. Across the road, Yuuki rides by on his bicycle, and spotting them, calls out and waves as he rides past, but doesn't stop. Ruko and Ueno wave back, Ruko in particular grinning hugely, while Hajime salutes him.

After the chorus, there is a moment of instrumentals before the bridge of the song, and this is devoted to various still images showing some of the different characters in different situations, with no particular discernible chronological order: Ruko spying on Kinomoto and Tsuwabuki as they tend to the 3E flowers, grinning evilly and holding onto her camera. Tada and Tsukuda walking up to the school building, holding hands. Sumire and Kiyono, out shopping for the red backpack that Kiyono will be using when she starts school that April. Hana and Asami with their father, debating something good-naturedly around a coffee table. Yukine in a small kitchen with his fiancé Natsume, preparing a meal. The Akabane siblings in various situations-Kou sitting in the music room with Yoriko, Matsunaga and others as they clean their instruments, Kaito eating lunch in the canteen with a couple of other boys in his year, Miori helping another girl in her class re-tie her ponytail, Kazuo and a bunch of other seven year olds poring over a comic. Business as usual in Matsuraiken-Muramatsu, Taeko and other workers busy while Itona sits at the counter as petulantly as always. Jori and Eka working hard practising gymnastics manoeuvres, while Fuyumi watches. Hidaka in a garage, carving something out of wood. Hasegawa sitting on a bed watching his little sister Misao pack a suitcase full of things, Manabu sitting on his lap. Azama high in the branches of the cherry tree outside the 3E building, looking into the distance calmly. Reno, Reimiya and Ryuuta out shopping for food and laughing at each other. Hiro waiting down at the bottom of the hill after school.

anata ga mita sora wa koko de wa naku  
tooku hanareteita chi de atte mo  
watashi ga ima miteru sora to onaji  
zutto tsuzuiteiru tsunagatteru

(We may not be in the same place  
but even if you're in a land far, far away,  
when I look up now, we see the same sky.  
Always and forever, we remain connected)

Matching the somewhat sadder, softer tone of the bridge of the song, the scenes shown here are somewhat softer and sadder too. The first is of Tada, Hiro, Karasuma and Chika, heading towards the graves where Mamoru and Hinano lie. Karasuma uses two wooden canes to walk, and they look intricately hand-carved. Tada carries a bunch of bright flowers, which he puts down carefully. They all stand there, looking at the stones, still clearly grieving, but accepting of it. The next scene is Rio visiting Kayano in jail, and from the look on her face, and the way she clenches her fists and looks down at her lap, it is clear that she is here in the capacity of a friend rather than a lawyer, and that she is revealing her own secret. Kayano, on her part, appears to have no feelings about the confession, though her tired eyes seem to have some kind of light in them, even if it is a flickering, weak one, as she regards Rio levelly.

The final scene is Nagisa, hands in pockets, pensive face turned to the sky. It is not clear where he is, but he is most definitely alone. As the breeze plays with his hair, still tied in the ponytails of his 3E days, he sighs, shoulders heaving, and pulls his hands out of his pocket to put up his hood, thereby obscuring his face once again, before walking away. The camera does not follow him, so once he is gone; all that the viewer sees is the empty space he left behind. Then, just as the music builds up to signal the approach of the last chorus, the camera moves up, unexpectedly, to give a view of the blue sky.

Gloaming! Disturb in distance of stars ishi wo motte  
Groovy! Revive a wish and revise your stance irodotteku  
Sunday... nyuudou kumo ni good morning call asu wo mezasu  
egao no sono saki ni michi ga tsuzuku

(Gloaming! Disturb the distance of stars, give me a reason.  
Groovy! Revive a wish and revise your stance, colour it to life.  
Sunday….the good morning call of thunderheads foreshadow tomorrow.  
Beyond my smile lies a long road ahead. )

When the words of the final chorus start and the camera comes back down again, it portrays the graduation ceremony of the third years. The students-all neat and in the standard uniform (for the first time in some cases)- are shown listening to the speeches and many of them are shown as they go up on stage to accept their diplomas from Okikura, who seems defeated by proceedings, as if he no longer cares anymore. From the shots shown, the graduation occurs smoothly. There is an air of proud achievement, as befitting a graduation ceremony, but there is also some sense of melancholy, as everyone present is aware of the fact that no new students will be coming in that year.

Outside, things are less restrained. Ayako bounds around everywhere, taking photographs and hounding people good naturedly. Ruko is also wielding her camera, clearly trying to get her last few snaps of the pairings she considers to be ship-worthy in Kunugigaoka before moving onto high school, with a long-suffering but happy Ueno trying (and failing) to rein her in. Many of the others in 3E mingle freely with those from the main campus as they exchange contact details and memories. A few can also be spotted making apologies to 3E students, suggesting that they hadn't been able to before. Eventually, 3E, Hiro, Asami, Eka, Ueno, Munakata, Aida and Tsukasa regroup, apparently making plans to go somewhere all together afterwards. But as they reach the gate, Tada turns back suddenly, as Hasegawa calls him. Otsuka, Maeda, Fujimura and Otonashi stand a few steps behind him-Otonashi somewhat awkwardly, Fujimura impassive and the other two glaring. Hasegawa, on his part, tries to appear cool-headed, but also comes across as pained, but he smoothly pushes this away as he puts on one of his best smiles and says a few words. Tada frowns, and the others watching get ready to intervene in different ways if need be, but then the faint trace of pain comes back to Hasegawa as he sticks his hand out and looks Tada solidly in the eye. He is offering a truce. And Tada, being the person he is, smiles genuinely and takes Hasegawa's hand. They shake hands, and then the two groups separate ways for the final time.

Once the final words of the chorus are sung, in the last few moments of the song, there are a few scenery shots of the main campus building and the 3E campus, before going to Tada's bedroom, where he is now in casual clothes, folding away his Kunugigaoka uniform to put away for good. His diploma is on his desk. Once he has done that, he gets up, and goes to his desk. Briefly, he looks over at his bedside table, where the summer festival photograph and the two of his mother and father reside, but when he gets to the desk, he grabs a photo frame and two photographs. He slides the first one in- the one of the 3E of thirty years ago featuring Koro-sensei- and then, after a moment, he puts in the second one-the one of all of them in the final 3E (the same photograph that was posed for at the beginning of the song), so that it covers the first photograph. Regarding this, he smiles, then places the frame down on the desk carefully, next to the one of Karasuma that once graced his bedside table, before leaving the room.

But rather than follow him out, the camera remains fixed on the whole-class picture, sitting in a frame on Tada's desk, and then suddenly the image changes rapidly many times showing the same photograph in many different places-different photo frames (some on desks and some not), photo albums, pin boards, walls- one is even suspended from the roof with thread. This rapid string of images showing the different places this one photograph has been placed does eventually slow down though, and soon stops completely to show the photo album of 30 years ago open to the final page, the secret compartment of that side closed. There, the photograph has been placed as a loose image onto that page, so that it only slightly overlaps the image stuck there- the one of the entire class 3E of thirty years ago, minus Koro-sensei. This is the final image that lingers until the song has completely ended, at which point, the screen goes black.


	77. Epilogue

**Aaand here it is, the long-awaited epilogue. There will end up being a lot that needs explaining, which I will do at the bottom. For now, all you need to know before reading this is that this takes place 8 years after, and that this is Karasuma's POV- the same as the prologue, if you remember.**

* * *

"And this is the classroom I'll be teaching in. It isn't the one with my name though."

"Oh? Whose is it, then?"

"I think it's yours, actually." Kei frowned, and considered.

"Mine?" Putting her camera-holding hand down, Ayako looked at the classroom sign, then to a piece of paper she had in her hand that had the map on it, and then back again, before grinning and lifting up the camera.

"Hey, what do you know, it is! Way-hey!" Beaming, she held out the camera and turned it so it faced her, and then pointed to the sign for a few moments, before returning it, making everyone laugh.

Karasuma discreetly checked his own map, though really, there was no need to. This class was none other than 3-Takashita, or 3-T for short. It was not a special or unusual classroom- the other third year classrooms were 3-Arisato, 3-Hara and 3-Kuroyama-in fact, they were just like any other classroom in any other middle or high school. But even so, The New Dawn Academy was not just like any other school. This class-naming system was just one of the ways in which this was the case. Rather than having the classes go from A-D, the surnames (written in hiragana rather than the kanji) of both the final 3E, and the 3E that he'd had to oversee once had been put into a random generator and used to name all the classes for all the year groups.

In addition to this, each year group had an additional class called the 'resource class', each numbered for what year it belonged to (so Resource Class-or RC- 1, 2 etc., right up until sixth year, which was the equivalent to the final year of high school). But that itself was not a permanent classroom-it was just somewhere where students went for a while when they needed more help, whether that was because they were returnees struggling with the language or curriculum differences (much like Kitabayashi-who had gone back to live in America when he'd been offered a place studying Literature at a university there-had been once), or they needed time to catch up after being in hospital for a while. It could also be used if a student was being bullied and couldn't be in the classroom (though, right from the start, this school would not be complacent when it came to bullying). Whatever the reason, it was meant only as a temporary measure, a sanctuary of sorts, but never a punishment or a curse, not in the way 3E had been.

And that in itself was reason enough for Karasuma to consider it to be a good idea. More than a good idea. An excellent one. But still, he found himself overwhelmed just thinking about it. The existence of The New Dawn Academy had really resulted from the Ending the End Class project, and that in itself was pretty amazing. To imagine that a group of fourteen and fifteen year olds had taken down a school, an incredibly successful one at that, as well as challenging the education system itself. _But it's not as if that's the first time though, that I've seen young people rise up to and oppose the burdens us adults place on them._ Of course, he could never forget it. The assassination classroom 3E had been his responsibility for most of his life. He'd taken on the task of observing them and making sure that the skills they had been taught had not resulted in a new generation of serial killers or fraudsters, while making sure that they were not burdened any more than they had been by things they'd had no say in-after all, they had deserved the chance to grow up and live their own lives. He'd taken on this new responsibility, as a thank you to them for taking on the pressures of saving the world. It had been the least he could do.

"Karasuma-sensei, are you alright? Is the walking too much?"

"Hmmm?" Karasuma looked to see both Tada and Nagisa looking at him with some concern, and managed a smile.

"No, no, I'm fine. Just lost in thought, that's all."

"Probably for the best. They've been debating the merits of teaching in a classroom with your own name, or being a student in the class that has your name. The argument is going around in circles and while it's amusing it's also just…..yeah."

Tada pulled a face as he indicated Ayako, Fuyumi, Kei and Ikuko, walking slightly ahead of them. Of the four of them, Ayako, as a freelance journalist, was the only one in the little group there who was not going onto work for the school. Fuyumi was set to be one of the admin staff, and her surname had been given to one of the fifth-year (equivalent to the second year of high school) classrooms. Originally, it had been intended for the school name itself, but as her surname was of course the same as that of Aguri Yukimura's, the coincidence had been deemed too awkward, and thus, that idea was scrapped. From what Karasuma could discern of the debate, he suspected that Fuyumi was more than glad of this idea. Then there was Kei and Ikuko, homeroom teacher and principal respectively, both having been very proactive in creating the system that The New Dawn Academy would run under. Where Kei had had his surname assigned to a first-year classroom, Ikuko didn't have her name on any classroom. But of course, as a principal Ikuko's name would always be mentioned in association with the school, so it was not as if that mattered.

"Well, at least as a school counsellor, you don't need to be concerned about that. 'Kitakawa' didn't get selected anyway, did it?" Karasuma glanced at his map to confirm this.

"Yeah, that's right. Hanae's maiden surname did though-look, there, one of the second year classrooms."

Tada pointed to the relevant room on the map, which they had passed already on this mini-tour. Karasuma just nodded. He still remembered it like it was yesterday, having recently woken up from that coma only to be introduced to his godson's girlfriend and even realising then that 'girlfriend' was too light a term to use. And sure enough, they had married straight after high-school and had been living together ever since. Recently, they'd told those closest to them that Hanae was pregnant. Twins, apparently, and though it was still early days yet, Kou's uncanny predictions had decreed that they were a boy and a girl. They'd even picked names already- Atsushi and Chiasa.  
(As it happened, Kou's wife-his high school sweetheart Yoriko-was also expecting twins. But nobody knew anything more than that, because Yoriko had forbidden Kou from saying anything on the matter).

Amongst the group (and even people of their age in general) Tada and Hanae (and, for that matter Kou and Yoriko, even if they technically weren't part of the 3E group) were unusual, in that they had settled down and started family life already, but it was not as if they were the only ones. Eriko had married Sora not long after she had come of age, having been in a long distance relationship with him since she'd finished high school, and they had a young son called Akihito. They all lived in France near to Megu, Eriko staying at home looking after Akihito while Sora worked as an accountant. It was a quiet life they were all happy with, and they all kept in touch constantly.

"I have a classroom too, don't I?" Nagisa asked quietly. "Sixth-year, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Tada confirmed, grinning at him. Karasuma studied Nagisa, looking carefully of any sign of trouble, just as he had ever since Nagisa had uncannily returned a few days ago, in time to get to see what The New Dawn Academy looked like. His drifting in and out of life act had yet to cease, and though he did come back more often now, there was an unspoken knowledge that he'd never _really_ come back to them. So such moments were important. _And they remind me of the way in which I failed to look after them._ But before he could get sucked down that particular rabbit-hole of thought, a child's voice interrupted them.

"Mummy and Daddy's names are there too, right?" Kayo Chiba asked, peering around Tada and pointing at the map. Karasuma blinked, having forgotten for a moment that Tada was looking after her for the day, but then he nodded.

"Yes, but we haven't got to them yet." He answered. "Do you have a map yourself?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, here, take mine. I don't need it anyway, not really."

"Oh, okay! Thanks!" Kayo took the map from him and started to pore over it. As she did, they reached the fourth year classrooms, and so she ended up not needing the map to discover one of them was 4-Chiba. She did, however, need it to discover where 'Hayami' would be, and soon located the name on a sixth-year classroom. Once she had found them both though, she got bored of the map, and handed it back to Karasuma, who took it and folded it up, before putting it back in his pocket, and just looking around him as they continued the tour, led by Kei and Ikuko.

As they went around, he found himself drawn to the corridor murals. Depicting nature scenes, skies or abstract patterns, they had been done by Reimiya, Tomoki and Sugaya. The former two worked full-time for the latter at All Is Possible, and this had been one of their biggest commissions, and one that had brought success to the shop, though it remained one of a kind. Sugaya could have easily opened branches of it by now, but continued to refuse to do so. But that had little bearing on the quality of the murals-they were beautiful, clearly created by talented hands, and again, ended up as yet another thing that made The New Dawn Academy different to other schools. He wished that he was young again, that this school had come about sooner. Maybe then he could have taught there. Certainly, before the assassination classroom, 'teacher' was a label he would never have given to himself. After that, it had become a vital part of him. Of course, people his age still worked, even if he himself was retired now.

 _But it's not just about age. It's the point of life that I'm at._ The years in the military had ended up helping him a lot when it came to rehabilitation. But still, he used crutches. He tired easier now. And he still lived with Tada and Hiro's aunt Chika, because living alone wasn't an option. Not that he minded-he counted Chika as a friend now, and did his best to not infringe on her life, and it was, all in all, a nice way to live. But it underlined that really, it wasn't his place to be a main player anymore. That was for this generation of young people, and the next one that was already forming. And he was more than fine with that.

"It looks a lot different to what I remember." Karasuma commented as they finished with the classrooms and moved on to see other rooms, starting with the music room.

"It does. And even with it all being the same at the base of it all." Nagisa agreed. Karasuma thought that in this manner, Nagisa and the school building were much the same. He was so very different (more bent and broken) and yet the same. His hairstyle had even regressed for whatever reason.

"Well, it's not as if anything was particularly wrong with the building in the first place, so there was no need to tear it down or anything." Tada interjected.

"Though some things have been swapped around, from what I can understand. Bad Feng Shui and all." Ikuko added.

They all stopped in their tracks stared at her for a moment. Even Ayako- who had been filming the music room and chirpily narrating- fell silent and just gaped in astonishment at the new principal of The New Dawn Academy.

"Since when did you believe in that sort of thing?" Kei asked, eyeing Ikuko in astonishment.

"I don't. I was being sarcastic." Ikuko deadpanned, before laughing and ruffling Kei's hair for a moment, as though he was still 18. Karasuma supposed Ikuko was entitled to thinking of Kei as young, because for all that he was set to be a good teacher and was just generally doing well with his life, it seemed that there would always be an air of vulnerability to him, so they (especially his sisters) all thought it, in a way. But having been a major force in getting him to re-join the world, Ikuko was especially entitled.

"It was also cheaper, and allowed us to focus the money on other aspects of the school." Fuyumi shrugged, breaking the silence. "Though it's not like we've been lacking."

Of course they hadn't been. With the likes of Gakushuu, Karma and the Kurobas backing the school, their budget was more than comfortable. Some of Karasuma's own 3E had put forward what remained from their reward money as well-Nagisa had somehow held onto most of his, and had contributed all of it. A worrying sign, but also a generous gesture he wouldn't allow them to refuse. Looking at Nagisa, now with Ikuko and Kei, Karasuma again thought about this money, wondered if it was his own way of helping from a distance, yet another method of atonement for something he didn't really need to atone for. _Because if anybody should have seen the signs, it was me. I was the one who was meant to be looking out for this very thing anyway. I was the one who was supposed to be looking after them._

"And my Daddy helped too, right?" Kayo asked cheerfully, interrupting Karasuma's train of thought.

"Yeah, he did." Tada answered. "A lot of people did, and we couldn't have done it without them."

"Exactly, exactly." Ayako interrupted her own narration to agree. "We're all this one big team, you see."

"Wow…." Kayo's mahogany eyes went round in astonishment, which made everyone chuckle. Karasuma wondered if the child's sense of wonder would remain when she was old enough to attend this school herself- he was fairly sure that her parents would try and get her into it, if they could. _But still, it's not like it matters. Perhaps school goes to shape a person, but it is not a make-or-break thing, it isn't the only part of life that means anything._ This, he knew more than anything.

"Anyway," Ikuko proclaimed after a while. "If we've finished fangirling over the instruments, let's move on."

 **…**

After they'd finished the tour of the school building and everything that was a part of that, they decided to go up to what had once been the 3E campus. After much deliberation, Tada's class had gone with one of their earlier ideas, which was to turn it into a clubroom for those school clubs which might best benefit from it. They had considered making it into a permanent 3E Museum- Hana, especially, had wanted this- but in the end it was the clubroom idea that had won. But the 3E Museum was still a thing. Though government hand-wringing and some little bits of red-tape had slowed down the procedure of setting up the museum had still gone relatively smoothly, and it was expected that Hana would be able to open a permanent 3E Museum in the next two years. In the meantime, her life was balanced between seeing family, helping with The Daybreak Academy, the two part-time jobs she had for a history museum and All Is Possible, and the planning of her upcoming wedding to none other than Seijuro Kuroba. He was also quite busy, as he was studying to become a doctor. Then of course, there was Izzy, third member of the still tight-knit trio. He seemed happy working for the tech support at an IT company and despite seeing Shiki on-and-off, seemed to have no real desire to settle down (though apparently he did sometimes get a taste for what parenting could be like when he looked after Naoya and Yuuya's adoptive son, so that the couple could go on date nights).

Because the old 3E building was now a clubroom, it had been renovated to a much bigger extent than the school building had been, and thus as they trudged up the hill towards it, it took Karasuma a moment to be able to recognise it for what it had been. But recognise it he did-the wooden roof, for example, was exactly the same, just in better condition, and the storage sheds were similarly familiar. And the flowerbeds-which, until this moment he had only seen in photographs, were still there, and still very carefully tended. Though they had busy lives as a florist, a defence lawyer and assistant cook at Matsuraiken respectively, Kinomoto, Haru and Hirigi all still found time in their lives to do this-they were even listed in The New Dawn Academy's staff as part-time gardeners and got a small wage too. Tsuwabuki did too, but less often, as he tended to be away on digs. If Karasuma recalled what Tada had mentioned to him correctly, Tsuwabuki was currently somewhere in India.

"Hey, hey, can I climb the tree?" Kayo asked as they approached, pointing to the cherry tree. The blossoms were just starting to come out, but most were still buds at this point.

"Don't you want to look around with us, Kayo-Chan?" Tada asked. Kayo frowned exaggeratedly and considered.

"I do…but…"

"How about we look around, and then you can climb the tree?" Kei suggested to her.

"Or, if Tada-san thinks it's okay, how about I show you some better trees to climb in the forest?" Fuyumi suggested. "I was here with Jo-san and Eka-san a few days back, before they left for the gymnastics tournament. I was watching them practise with the team, on the trails Okano-san showed them."

There was a wistful look to Fuyumi as she described these things, as if mourning her inability to be able to participate with her friends. But she smiled pleasantly too, and in any case, everyone knew that she'd made her peace with her situation long ago.

"Hmm….Tada-nii, that's an okay idea, right?" Kayo made puppy-eyes at Tada, who sighed and ruffled her hair.

"Well, I don't see why not." He shrugged as they went around and looked at the flowers, oohing and aahing at them before going inside. The entrance, and the shoe-cubby-hole spaces were still the same, which made a certain kind of sense considering that the building was still a part of the school. But now there was a coat rack and an umbrella stand, and yet some more pictures on the walls. The origami birds hung up along the corridor ceilings were also still there. Also, for some reason, there was a world map, which confused Karasuma, but by now he'd seen much weirder things and so he forgot about it.

"Ahh, it's a shame that Ichinose-san and the others couldn't come." Fuyumi mused as they headed to the main classroom, which had been renovated to look like the standard club-room in any middle or high school.

"Yeah, those guys need a little more praise and adoration for those flowers, don't they?" Ikuko said. "Still, they have their main jobs to think about."

"Still, just generally it would have been nice if more of us had been able to make it today. Then perhaps we could have had a little celebration or something." Tada acknowledged.

"I know, right?! Ruko-Chan technically could have made it….but she had to go and have a burst of inspiration and want to use it to finish drawing the rest of the chapter way before deadline. Like, what sort of bad timing is that-yes, Ruko-Chan, I'm saying you should have procrastinated today!"

At the end of her outburst, Ayako swung her camera around so she was filming herself, and pulled a few hideous faces before returning to looking around the clubroom. Kayo bounded in not too far behind her, while the others walked at a more measured pace. Karasuma lingered at the entrance for a moment, looking at the plaque that Hidaka had made. It was still there, and above it was another one (also made by Hidaka), which had some information on Kunugigaoka on it.

"Exactly!" Tada laughed. "I find it hilarious that Ruko-Chan is actually capable of not procrastinating anymore, but yeah. Akira-Chan said the same thing about her book."

"Even if those two were free though, it would have been impossible for the entire class to reunite, not right now with so many of you away." Karasuma pointed out. There was Eriko in France, Tsuwabuki in India and Jori and Eka in Switzerland, but Koujiro was also in America like Kitabayashi was (though Koujiro intended to come back after his studies), Yamada was completing her studies in England, and Azama and Hidaka were both taking gap-years, the former around the African continent, Hidaka in Australia. Hiro and Yukiyama were still in Japan, but their work-Hiro was coming up in the world as a designer, whereas Yukiyama still modelled- had taken them right across the country for a few months. All in all, they were quite the spread-out group-yet another thing that startled and impressed Karasuma. _I don't think I could have mapped out better lives for them._

"Ahh, that's true…." Fuyumi agreed.

"Asami's been saying that she wants to do something big for Hana when the museum opens." Kei spoke up. "Perhaps then you can gather everyone together."

"That sounds like fun! I'll look forward to that." Tada decided.

"Me too!" Kayo cheered as the others chimed in with agreement (and Nagisa absently nodded). Karasuma thought about correcting the child, but she looked so pleased with herself that he didn't have the heart to, and they continued onto the next room, which had been made into a dorm of sorts. Again, Sugaya and his team had really put their all into it, the ceiling with a night-sky painted on it, the walls done in a neutral and tasteful cream. The floorboards had been left as they were.

"This is peaceful looking." Nagisa commented. "I like the ceiling."

"Mhm, I do, too. It was Kei-kun's idea, actually." Ikuko explained, grinning at both of them.

"Not really…." Kei was quick to blush and shake off the praise. "I just mentioned it one time, given that everyone-well, some people- thought the astronomy club would be able to use this space best."

"That's still an idea though." Fuyumi pointed out. Kei pulled a face and shrugged.

"Yeah, well….." Kei was about to say something, but Kayo's squeals distracted him for it, and he excused himself from needing to say any more by going over and chatting to the girl for the first time. Karasuma watched him. Though Kei wasn't necessarily a natural with littler children-and indeed, teaching middle schoolers, he didn't really need to be- but Ikuko's two little ones (four year old Ushio and his three year old sister Miuna) adored him. And then, of course, there was Ranko. Though of course she could not really be called a child in the same sense that Kayo could, it was safe to say she'd never be an adult the same way the rest of them were. But within her confines, she was doing well, and she and Kei were as thick and thieves. Enough so that Ranko's parents were satisfied that when their time came, she would be more than provided for with him by her side.

 _And, I wonder who will look after this lot when I am gone?_ He'd had enough brushes with death to have considered the question earlier. But he hadn't even needed that- he'd been taking care of these kids more or less before they had even been born. After all, if Hinano, Isogai, Chiba, Hayami and everyone else had not been free to pursue the futures that they'd gone on to do, if he hadn't intervened at every possibility of their youths being taken from them, then there'd be so many lives that wouldn't exist. And the world would be poorer without them, he knew this for sure. _Yet, if perhaps things had been a little tighter, Nagisa-kun would not be how he was now._

They seemed to decide to settle in the room they were in for a while, and just talked about different school related things, particularly how they would manage the usage of the clubhouse and other such things. So as that conversation took place, Karasuma snuck glances at Nagisa every so often. He was quiet, saying very little, stepping in with only a few remarks, most of which were astute. But mostly, he just watched. Stayed on the fringe of things-there, but not involved in the world. Much like the Distant Ocean. His bed-time story hero hadn't even had a name when he'd first introduced him into the twins' bedtime stories, but though Tada had dubbed the hero with his own moniker, in Karasuma's mind the Distant Ocean could only be one person-Nagisa. It was nowhere near enough, the most tenuous of links, but despite the collective decision to make sure the children did not know (and that those who were old enough to have memories of him soon forgot- like poor Ikuko, who had idolised him and still did), he didn't want to consign him to the forgotten forever. Because if he came back after they were all gone, who would be there to look after him? So on a whim, he had created and sustained these stories, in the hopes that they would be enough to allow his godchildren to recognise Nagisa should he come back for good one day.

And come back he had-sort of. He'd covertly watched over the final 3E to protect them, and had appeared just in time to prevent another tragedy, to put in the final brick of what had been the Ending the End Class project. He'd stuck around for a little while, then had disappeared again soon before they had graduated. Then a long gap in which he had turned up for shorter periods of time, intermittently but more frequently. He'd stayed for meals with some people, and when he'd drifted to Kyoto, Karma had persuaded (or harangued) him to stay at the Akabane family home for a few days. Then, somehow knowing when this small special tour was taking place to be able to join it. And though he seemed pensive and restless, fingers tapping against his side (or his knee, if he was sitting down), looking around everywhere, he was also clearly happy to be there, seeing everything as it was. It was a hopeful sign. And yet, it was clear, not just from the money he'd passed on but the general feel of him, that he was not ready to settle into the world. That possibly, he never would.

 _No matter the good I did, that still lies at my feet. Especially with what set it off. I was monitoring them. How did I not notice when she had seen him, when she'd decided to set off on that path? How?_

"Karasuma-sensei?"

Karasuma blinked, and noticed Nagisa watching him. His blue eyes were still as they searched his face, but something sparked in them anyway, as if detecting the thoughts in his mind.

"Ah….sorry, Karasuma-sensei…"

"No." Karasuma shook his head, decisively. "Don't be."

"Hmmm? What are you two talking about?" Ayako asked, grinning devilishly at them.

"I'd imagine it's nothing for you to write about." Fuyumi answered her, smartly. Ayako turned and stuck her tongue out her. _Honestly, she doesn't change._

"That isn't why I was asking!"

"Sure it is, sure it is." Tada laughed. "Anyway, what are we going to do now? There's not much left to see, right?"

"No, not much. How about we go and annoy Kaori-san and Fumiko-sempai after we're done here?"

"Ah, no, Kei-kun, Fuyumi-Chan and I still have some bits to go over, so we'll be heading back to the main building after this. Tada-kun, if you could come too-how much longer do you have charge of Kayo-Chan?" Ikuko remembered.

"The rest of the day. But, Hanae's taking a half-day and bringing some work home. I don't think she'll mind if I leave Kayo-Chan with her and then come back….maybe 3ish."

Ikuko considered.

"Mehh, that'll work. Yeah. No, actually, I'll take that back. We'll join you at Oceanfront for a while, then go back, then Tada, you join us as soon as you can."

"Yup, sure!"

"I'll still be able to tree-climb, right?!" Kayo asked.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just don't rip that dress of yours, okay?"

"Tada-nii, I know that!" but Kayo was pleased enough, and bounded ahead as they left the room and finished looking around, and soon ended back outside, at the front. As soon as she could see the tree, Kayo went for it, and after a few false starts, was soon climbing up the tree with ease (apparently, this tree was more appealing than the many in the forest that Fuyumi had offered to show her, but nobody was going to be taking this personally). Tada hovered at first, but Fuyumi soon took over, waiting by the tree and occasionally calling things up to Kayo. Ayako, Ikuko and Nagisa joined them as well, and so Tada went to sit on the entrance steps. Karasuma went too, though he just stood next to them, and Kei followed.

"Cheerful, isn't she?" Kei commented. Tada shook his head and grinned.

"If only you knew." He said. "If only you knew."

"Still, she's a good kid, it seems."

"Yes, that's true, too."

"I wonder what my class will be like. Hopefully not that energetic."

"I somehow suspect that they'll be more so." When Kei made an aggrieved face at that, Tada laughed.

"But you'll be fine, I'm sure of it."

"Hmmm…yeah. Yeah." Kei nodded and looked out at scenery in front of them.

"Still, once the year starts, we'll see." Tada concluded, also watching the view (and of course, half-keeping an eye on Kayo). They fell into silence, and Karasuma followed suit.

For a moment, the greenery as it looked faded away, and Karasuma could see it as it had been 38 years ago. _Thirty eight. It's really been that long, huh?_ His memory filled in the rest of the scene, as though it was one of those days in that year and he was waiting for them to come and start the day. The students of that very different 3E coming up the hill either solo or in their particular groupings, chasing each other or dragging their feet, discussing things or just laughing about nothing in particular. Some of them would probably go to the forest and do some more practise, while others would decide to go straight in. Irina bustling around and pretending to find it annoying that they were filling the space with noise, all while being clearly pleased at the attention various students paid her. And then of course, Koro-sensei. That inexplicable, ridiculous yellow former wanted assassin and walking science experiment. The main teacher of the class.

"I wonder what Koro-sensei would have made of all this?" Tada asked, as if somehow he was picturing something similar, a memory conjured from the photo albums he still treasured.

"This?" Karasuma queried.

"Sure, this. Ending the End Class. The New Dawn Academy. How we even got to this point anyway. What happened to Mum, and then also Nagisa-san and…." Tada leaned back and sighed a bit. "Okay, some of that, it doesn't take having known Koro-sensei to know how he'd feel about that. He wouldn't have been happy with Kayano-san at all, and I feel sure….I know he'd grieve for Mum too. And hopefully he would have given Dad a talking-to before he could have….well. Hiro would hope for that, anyway. Still. But the rest of it? You were there, Karasuma-sensei. Do you have an idea…?"

"Well….." Karasuma did not say that he had not tried to get to know Koro-sensei for the longest while at first. That for a while, he had been little more than the mission. But as time had gone by….as he'd become more and more attached to the students, started to see himself as a teacher….things had been very different.

So Karasuma didn't answer for a while, and watched his imaginings go by a little while longer, the memories of the mini impromptu attacks the students often waged on Koro-sensei coalescing into one image of some of them chucking rubber knives and shooting BB bullets at the octopus, who dodged them all, tossing knives back to the annoyed assassins (and tidying their uniforms in the process). He chuckled at the memory, still bemused by their antics, even this far away from them, and let the image fade away, leaving behind the present.

"Well…" he started again, and then hesitated as he looked at Tada and Kei, and then over to Ikuko, Nagisa, Ayako, Fuyumi and Kayo, over by the cherry tree. Another memory, this time of Hinano as she had been when the twins were born and she'd got in touch with him again, flashed up briefly before fading. Then, he looked back at Tada again.

"I would say so, yes."

Tada nodded, relieved.

"Yeah, I thought so. I just wanted to hear you say it."

Karasuma nodded.

"In any case, I think I might go and have a rest now. No, I can walk myself back." He said before Tada could ask. "You all go on and enjoy yourselves at Oceanfront."

"We'll walk back down the hill together, at the very least." Tada said, and before Karasuma could object (not that he would have anyway), he went to corral the others. Once Kayo was safely out of the tree (and mollified by promises of cake and possible other treats), they all started to head down the hill together, talking of nothing in particular. This time, most of it was a lot of things Karasuma had no clue about, so he just half-listened and walked fairly peacefully with them.

When they were nearly halfway down the hill, something had Karasuma glance back over his shoulder. The clubhouse-the former 3E building- could still just about be seen from that distance. An though he gave it only a short glance before turning back again, Karasuma could have sworn he'd seen Koro-sensei's spirit there, waving a tentacle at them as they left, letting them all know that he was more than happy with the way that things had turned out.

* * *

 **So...I tried to mention something of where most of the characters are, especially the members of the final 3E, but I of course could not fit everyone in. Speaking of which, that's one of the main flaws of this story in general- not everyone got their chance to shine as much as others. And though that sort of thing is an inevitability of a story with so many POVs, I am very, very sorry about it, especially if your character was affected. But know this-all the characters submitted to me were very precious to me, and I really enjoyed working with them. But anyway, some extra tidbits about the characters now, 8 years later:**

 **-Reno works in an advertising company. By coincidence, so does Asami, and they get along pretty well there because of it. But they only see each other in a platonic way-indeed, Asami has recently started dating someone she knew from her high-school. As for Reno, he is still single, but not to bothered about it, and for rent reasons, he is room-mates with Reimiya. But he is less protective of her. Not that he isn't at all, but by now he can deal with her independence, and does not worry about her. She, in turn, is more relaxed, especially since befriending Tomoki and working at All Is Possible.**

 **-Yamada and Azama keep up an inexplicably strong connection, even over long distances. Nobody can tell if they're an item or not, and they're not divulging it either. Or rather, it's more like they are, but between Azama's general crypticness and Yamada being...well, Yamada, the answers make little sense. Still, they also hold the clear view that they've got the rest of their life to decide, and they're pretty happy to remain as they were.**

 **-Ruko has been dating Yuuki Tachibana for two years now-they work at the same manga company as well, though Yuuki is an editor rather than an actual mangaka, whereas Ruko is an up-and-coming mangaka. You can probably guess what genre of story she does. The 'Yuzuki to Yuuki' duo no longer publishes new things, having stopped when Yuuki started university, but sometimes there are little 'Yuzuki to Yuuki' omakes in Fuwa's things, and they do special anniversary things, and more recently, one of the finished series was green-lit for an anime movie, which everyone is excited about.**

 **-Hirigi is close friends with Yukine and Natsume (as of now, they don't have children yet, but they are hoping to start a family soon). He actually ended up going to the same high school as one of Yukine's sisters, which is the main reason for this.**

 **-Hiro designed the school uniforms for The New Dawn Academy, which has given her a distinctive edge in the world of fashion design. She also does some commissions for All Is Possible.**

 **-Hajime Miyamoto did indeed decide to become a teacher, but he works the school Ikuko taught at during the story, despite being offered a role at The New Dawn Academy.**

 **-Kei's closeness with Ranko is to the extent that he has actually been named as next-of-kin for her, and is trusted with her care when her parents eventually pass away. Of course, she has older siblings, and they will be there too as her family and take responsibility accordingly, but yeah, in the event of something really bad happening, Kei will be the one responsible for her. This is actually a big part of how he managed to properly integrate back into the real world (that, and Ikuko, not to mention his sisters). In any case, though he isn't interested in dating yet, when he does enter that scene, he will make clear that he and Ranko are a package deal. Oh, and she still calls him a 'prince', but these days it is more like a joke.**

 **-Ikuko kept her surname, though really, if she had taken her husband's, she could still be 'DoubleI'...**

 **-Fumiko has two children, both daughters. Shuuko is almost 8, Mai just turned 3.**

 **-Aida also works in advertising, but in a different company to Asami and Reno. She is still very friendly with Ayako and Ruko, and to a lesser extent, Fuyumi. She still claims to not like Haru, but they have a friendship anyway, one which started up after high school. She is also tight with Kaori and Fumiko, as she worked part-time at Oceanfront while she was at university.**

 **\- Hanae (Tsukuda) and Haru have a friendly rivalry based on the fact that the former is a prosecutor whereas the latter is in defence, but outside the courtroom, they are very close and support each other.**

 **And I am sure I have more titbits like this-I do, actually-but I can't really bring them to mind at the moment. I also have various headcanons, all at various levels of detail, of the characters' lives much later on, but I honestly can't think of them right now. My head is too full at the moment. But if you have your own, particularly where your characters are concerned, I would still love to hear them. And I may even post my own headcanons on Tumblr. No promises there, however.** **Speaking of the Tumblr tag, I'll still have it as a thing. However, the tag has gone weird and all sorts of irrelevant stuff keeps coming up in it, so if you are still going to use it, PLEASE tag my tumblr in the post as well, so that I can find it easier.**

 **So...what else? Ah, yeah, the new school. Most info is in the epilogue, but basically, this one has middle school and high school years all in one, and you just continue straight through-they aren't in sections, so there is no escalator system or whatever. Hence references to 'first year' and 'fourth year' and what have you. As for the name of the school, I went through so many alternatives, but I went for 'New Dawn' because the dawn is the start of the day, and the existence of the school is by nature a new start, a new beginning.**

 **Anyway...now the story is actually finished! Can you believe it? I can't, not fully. I genuinely hope you enjoyed this story and how it progressed, regardless of if you submitted an OC to me or not. I am so grateful for all the people who followed and favourited this each week, not to mention all my awesome reviewers! THANK YOU! I hope you will be able to take the time to leave one last bit of feedback-I would love to know your general thoughts on this story, what you liked and didn't like, anything!**

 **If you're curious as to what I am doing next fic wise-I need to finish my ChibaHaya AU one-shot collection 'Longer Than A Year'. I have not updated that for AGES for so many reasons, and because of the way my life is now, updates for that will be erratic for sure, but I am hoping that the next update will be at some point next month. Either way, that is one thing I will work on for sure. It WILL finish, I promise.  
Apart from that, for a long while I will only do one-shot of whatever fandom is taking my fancy-at the moment, that'll be Dangan Ronpa, thanks to the DR3 anime. I'm sure you noticed that I already did some one-shot for that fandom. But yes, there will be more, and they'll just be up whenever, because any separate one-shots will be written as a stress reliever/ coping method, and when I can't get to my desktop to work on 'Longer Than A Year'. **

**So, for now, bye-bye! And once again, thank you SO MUCH for reading!**


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